The Heart of Darkness
by blackrogue123
Summary: What starts as simple trip to Disney Castle quickly evolves into a war between the realms of Light and Darkness when Sora's "dark counterpart" nearly steals his heart. Even with the aid of Terra, the last chaser, can the Light prevail? SxK Roxine RikuOC
1. Chapter 1

Notes: Okay, I finished the rewrite of this chapter. I think you guys will find it's a major improvement over what I wrote while I was still a complete novice at writing! (Because now I'm an amateur at writing, which is slightly better!) For those of you who are just starting to read this, I hope you enjoy it. Please remember to review!

Disclaimer (God, I hate these…): I don't own Kingdom Hearts, only the characters and places I come up with.

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Sora let out a sigh of boredom onboard the gummi ship that King Mickey had apparently sent him, Riku, and Kairi. About three days after they had defeated Xemnas and restored everything back to "normal", or at least as normal as it could get for the three keyblade masters, they received a letter from the mouse king. The letter simply said that Mickey had to see them and that he would provide transportation, no other details whatsoever. About a day after that, they found a gummi ship on the island that they usually spent their free time on, the one with the "secret spot" as they liked to call the small cave that had Sora and Kairi's drawings in it. The gummi ship was a standered one, it was basically a carbon copy of the Highwind without any modifications in anyway shape or form.

Unfortunately, that meant it didn't have a warp gummi installed in it, meaning the trip to Disney Castle was taking longer than Sora had been used to. Whenever he, Donald, and Goofy went anywhere before they got their warp gummi, they were never bored because they spent the entire trip blasting either heartless or nobody ships out of the way. Now, however, there was nothing to occupy Sora's attention other then Kairi and Riku. Kairi was sitting in the chair to the left of Riku while the silver haired teen sat in the middle chair piloting the ship, leaving Sora with the rightmost chair.

"Are we there yet?" Sora asked as he slumped into his chair. Right now, he would do anything to cause some excitement, even if it meant annoying Riku and possibly Kairi.

Riku let out a low growl while Kairi let out a giggle that she had been unable to suppress. "We'll get there when we get there, Sora," Riku said in an irritated tone, though it was obvious, to Sora and Kairi at least, that he was more amused than irritated by his friend's impatience. Sora let out a sigh and sank even deeper into his chair at Riku's response, he had been hoping for a bit more of a response.

"What's wrong, Sora?" Kairi began teasingly; "You don't like spending time with me and Riku anymore?" Sora let a weak grin break out across his face at Kairi's remark, just being around her seemed to cheer him up!

"No, Kairi, it's just that I don't remember you being this boring!" Sora relied with his own mischievous tone. Both Riku and Kairi let out laugh at this, Sora was soon o join in as well.

"Well, in that case, I guess I'll just have to make this trip more exciting for you, won't I, Sora?" Riku asked as his trademark grin materialized on his face. He reached down for the throttle button and set it to maximum, causing the gummi ship to rocket off even faster. Riku then proceeded to do a complex series of aerial acrobatics including flips barrel roll, twists, and countless other tricks much to both Sora and Kairi's delite. Soon, though, he had to return the ship to it's normal speed in order to avoid burning out it's engines. Riku smirked pleasantly when he heard Sora and Kairi's laughs of joy from his stunt.

"That was great, Riku!" Kairi exclaimed as she wiped way a tear of laughter, whether it was real or imagined Riku didn't know. Sora found himself staring at Kairi as she laughed and smiled.

'_She's beautiful when she's happy,_' Sora thought dreamily. Sora's eyes widened when he realized his own thoughts. He had found himself doing it a lot lately, at both Port Royal and at Holloween Town being just two of the occasions. Sora quickly looked away before either Riku or Kairi could notice that he had been staring. His daydreaming was not something he wanted to share with either of them.

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"Okay, we'll be landing in about two minutes," Riku announced as Disney Castle finally came in sight. For the most part the actual planet that the castle was on seemed to be nothing more than a grassy plain, but that could be explained away by the fact that they were coming to Disney Castle directly from space, with no time to explore or otherwise sigh see.

"Wait, what's that?" Kairi said as she got out of her chair and pointed towards what appeared to be an immense shadow around the entirety of Disney Castle. It took a few more seconds of staring for the three keyblade wielders to realize what the "shadow" was.

"T-those are heartless!" Sora exclaimed in disbelief. While all three of the keyblade wielders knew that the heartless would never truly leave the worlds, they never expected to see them in such large numbers; especially after all they had been through.

"Hang on, this should take care of them," Riku said grimly as he pulled the trigger that would cause the gummi ship's weapons to open fire on the heartless army before them. However, when Riku pulled the trigger, nothing happened. He grunted in surprise and pulled it several more times, but to no effect. "I'm taking us down there, maybe the king can explain what's going on." Sora and Kairi simply nodded in response, they were still dumbstruck by the sheer number of heartless that surrounded the castle. Thankfully, the heartless totally ignored the gummi ship as it landed in the garden of the castle; it was the only place big enough that the heartless couldn't reach.

As soon as the three friends walked down the loading ramp, they were greeted by Donald and Goofy, who had apparently seen them as they were flying toward the castle and ran out to great them while they were still landing. "Sora!" Goofy called out joyfully as he picked up Sora in a bear hug, practically squeezing the air out of him in the process. It would have caused everyone to laugh if it wasn't for the immense gravity of the current situation.

"Goofy, we haven't got time for that!" Donald yelled jumping up into the air and waving his staff; "they need to see the king right now!" Goofy quickly apologized and released Sora, who immediately began to gasp for breathe. "Right this way!" Donald said as he led them into Disney Castle. Riku and Kairi couldn't help but admire the interior of the castle as they were led in the general direction of the thrown room. Unlike Sora, they had never seen Disney Castle before. Soon however, they met King Mickey and Queen Minnie standing just out side the massive doorway into the actual thrown room.

"Yer majesty!" Goody called out, waving his hands in the air to get the king's attention; "Sora, Riku and Kairi are here to help!" Mickey and Minnie both turned from the window they had been using to watch the heartless out of to face the three keyblade masters.

"We got your letter, what happened?" Riku asked, taking the initiative as he almost always did. Riku was easily the most adventurous of the Destiny Island trio, it was his idea, after all, to build a raft and explore the other worlds. Mickey looked up at Riku with a confused expression.

"I didn't send you any letters. Every gummi ship we tried to send was destroyed by the heartless!" This revelation enforced a silence on the entire group as they contemplated the magnitude of Mickey's words.

"But, if you didn't send us that letter, then who sent it and the gummi ship?" Kairi asked, voicing everyone's thoughts.

"Well, for now, we're safe," Mickey declared, albeit uncertainty, as he looked out the window at the massive army of heartless that still surrounded the castle. "The heartless can't take even one step in here as long as the corner stone of light is present. I'm still worried about why they're here and what they're planning…" once again everyone took a moment to brood over the mouse king's words. Heartless were driven solely by emotion and instinct. Despite their names, heartless were really just hearts surrounded by darkness in physical form. They themselves couldn't really plan, but malevolent beings in the past had demonstrated the strength, will, and affinity for darkness necessary to get the heartless to obey them and act out their own plans. Maleficent and Organization thirteen were just the most recent examples.

Suddenly, though, a loud explosion was heard coming from the thrown room, shaking everyone from their thoughts. Everything seemed to get a little darker, as if a solar eclipse had just occurred. "The cornerstone!" Queen Minnie yelped as she and everyone else began to dash toward the massively oversized doors that literally reached the roof. Donald, however, opened the secret, and real, door that was actually normal sized. It was almost perfectly camouflaged against it's larger counterpart, but it was still easy to spot if you knew what you were looking for.

The secret passage that led to the cornerstone of light was open when the warriors of light entered the thrown room. They all sprinted toward it, all the while keeping an eye out for any heartless that might teleport in now that the cornerstone might or might not be working. As soon as they were about to walk down the steps and confront whatever lurked down in the now dark passage, a large force of heartless suddenly teleported into the thrown room, which was able to contain then all because of it's own large size.

"We'll hold them off!" Mickey yelled as he summoned his keyblade, "Go on, you can handle whatever's down there!" At this Sira, Kairi, and Riku nodded, they too had great confidence in the combine fighting ability of Goofy, Donald, Mickey, and Minnie.

Sora glanced over his shoulder as he followed Riku and Kairi down the staircase. He could see heartless of all kinds charging at the residents of Disney castles, from the common shadow to the chaotic lance soldier, which resembled an ancient Greek warrior with a Calvary lance. Their most peculiar trait was the fact that the lance itself was a different heartless than the actual soldier, sometimes lowering their fighting effectiveness because of the squabbles that they had when they were losing a fight. Sora shook the last of his worries out of his head as he quickly descend the staircase, he couldn't afford to let his worries occupy his mind in the middle of a fight.

"I knew you'd come," said a voice that came from a teenager who looked to be exactly Sora's age, a proud fifteen. The teenager's appearance gave Sora, Kairi, and Riku pause as they summoned their keyblades and took battle stances just at the base of the staircase. The unnamed teenager was dressed in a suit of black leather armor that had the heartless emblem on it's chest, there was also a double bladed staff strapped across his back though there didn't seem to be anything unusual about it. The actual teenager had ash-black hair styled in a spiky manner that vaguely reminded Sora of Cloud Strife. However, his most distinguishing, and arguably most intimidating, physical feature was his golden eyes. Every single person that had golden eyes reminiscent of a heartless's inevitably had ties to the darkness in one way or another. Judging from the recent events and the teenager's words, it was safe to assume that he possessed dark powers of some kind, especially since the few fragments of the cornerstone of light that remained were strewn behind him.

"How did you get in here?" Riku asked as he brandished his keyblade, the way to dawn, in a threatening manner at the teenager. H didn't bother

"I was easy for me to sneak in, you'd be surprised at how well an entire army of heartless distracts people!" The black-armored teenager eyed Riku's keyblade for a few seconds, but then focused all of his attention squarely on Sora. "I needed to get you here, Sora…I have to turn you into a heartless." Almost immediately the three keyblade masters gripped their keyblades even tighter than before.

"If you think we're just going to let you hurt Sora…" Kairi said angrily. Sora was rather surprised at her ferocity. She hadn't had chance to seriously train with her keyblade, so her fighting skill was considerably lacking when compared to Riku and Sora's, and yet she was still willing to go toe to toe with a potentially dangerous for simply because he threatened Sora.

The keyblade masters' enemy sighed to himself and drew his staff from across his back, taking a battle stance in the process. "I really don't want to do this," he said as he braced himself for the upcoming battle. "But if you won't come quietly…" at this the still unnamed heartless commander's eyes seemed to glow like a heartless's for a brief second. "Then I'll just have to tear your heart out myself, as sure as my name is Nihlus!"

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Well, that's a bit of a cliffhanger, but you'll still get a super cool fight in the next chapter! Please review and tell me what you think! The story gets better as you go deeper into it.


	2. Chapter 2: Memories

Notes: Okay, this is the second out of the three chapters I rewrote

Notes: Okay, this is the second out of the three chapters I rewrote. I hope you guys like it! R&R please!

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As soon as Sora, Kairi, and Riku all charged at Nihlus simultaneously, tow large bodies teleported into the room. They both smacked their bellies like they always did before they charged and then flanked Nihlus as he ran toward the three keyblade masters. Riku and Nihlus leaped at each other, their weapons clashing in mid-air. Meanwhile Sora and Kairi were prevented from immediately aiding Riku as the two large body heartless blocked their way. The two heartless "belly bumped" Sora and Kairi, knocking them both back to the base of the staircase, but not actually doing any damage to either of them. A squad of lance soldiers teleported in, apparently to help their comrades in preventing Sora and Kairi from helping Riku. "Be careful, Riku!" Kairi called out to her silver haired friend as she took a battle stance next to Sora. Although the two of them would be able to take out the heartless with relative ease, there was no telling how many more heartless might teleport in.

Besides, these heartless seemed to more organized, somehow. The lance soldiers weren't struggling with their own weapons in order to get them to fight. Riku only grunted in response to Kairi's warning as he struggled with Nihlus in their deadlock. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Sora and Kairi charging the heartless. He was a little worried about Kairi, but found comfort in the facts that Sora was there to pull her out if she got in over her head and that, having seen her fight first hand, he knew she was a capable, if inexperienced, fighter. Riku shifted his weight to the left in an attempt to cause Nihlus to stumble. He was only halfway successful as Nihlus did indeed stumble, breaking the deadlock in the process, but he spun around and parried Riku's blow just before it could hit.

"Nihlus, the darkness is going to consume you if you stay in it," Riku started as he and Nihlus circled each other, either searching for a sign of weakness or coming up with a plan of attack. "Believe me, I know that better than anyone, you can still come back to the light!" Riku was neither a particularly charismatic individual nor did he know why Nihlus wanted Sora's heart, but that wouldn't stop him from trying to talk Nihlus out of it. He was the best person for the job, after all, he knew exactly how addictive the power that darkness promises and gives. He also knew the dangers of siding with the darkness as well.

"Maybe I don't want you precious light, did you ever think of that!" Nihlus shot back at Riku. He seemed to be personally offended by the prospect of giving up his power. "Just shut up and fight me!" At this, Nihlus's eyes seemed to glow once more, if only for a brief second, as he charged toward Riku. He seemed to have utterly disregarded the previous amount of finesse he had shown. Riku managed to block the horizontal blow that Nihlus had thrown when he lashed out at him. Riku was forced to take a step back; he was surprised by the sheer ferocity of the strike. "How can you not see it!" he yelled as he continued to strike at Riku with his staff. All of his blows were far stronger than normal, but they lacked the finesse and grace that Nihlus had when he was in a neutral mood. Riku grunted as he blocked each blow before skillfully running The Way to Dawn down the length of Nihlus's staff and then drawing him into another deadlock, effectively negating the strength that Nihlus's anger had given him.

"What are you talking about?!" Riku demanded as he and Nihlus grappled. Nihlus let out a growl and began to struggle even harder against the deadlock that was enforced by Riku using his free hand to grab Nihlus's left wrist. When he wasn't able to escape Riku's grip, Nihlus seemed to pause, as if he had made a choice of some sort. He let go of his staff and gripped Riku's keyblade with both hands. To Riku's surprise, he pulled it diagonally downward, causing it to slice through his black leather armor and cut his chest.

Before Riku could even see if there was any serious injury dealt to Nihlus, four tentacles made of pure darkness burst forth from the enigmatic foe's back. Riku hesitated out of shock for only one brief second, but that was all the time the tentacles needed. They instantly wrapped themselves around Riku's wrists and ankles and then lifted him off the ground in front of Nihlus. To Riku's surprise, he could see the leather armor seemingly stitching itself together; the parts of Nihlus's armor that had been sliced seemed to be reaching for one another. It could only mean that the armor was made out of darkness as well. Riku watched as darkness seemed to cover Nihlus's hands. His eyes widened as he realized that heartless claws were beginning to form, replacing Nihlus's hands. Riku imediatly began to struggle in an attempt to free the hand that held his keyblade in order to escape from the tendrils, but the tentacles held fast.

Riku let out a cry of pain as he felt Nihlus's claws tear into his flesh. There was nothing he could do as Nihlus mercilessly slashed and stabbed him. Soon though, Nihlus stopped for a brief moment, only to slam Riku into the ground with his tentacles and then throw the weakened keyblade master into the closest wall. Riklu landed on his side, only dimly aware of the fact that Sora and Kairi were both yelling his name. Though he could see the blackness that foretold of losing consciousness form around the edge of his vision; he could also see that he had in fact accomplished something in his duel with Nihlus. Though the teen's leather armor had already stitched itself back together, the massive wound that Nihlus had inflicted on himself caused him to sink to his knees, placing one hand over his chest. As he fell into unconsciousness, Riku grinned weakly, content with the fact that he had effectively won the battle for Sora and Kair despite the fact that he was in agonizing pain right now.

Nihlus panted as he desperately tried to regain his strength. While he had defeated Riku by allowing the keyblade to wound him he had left Riku defenseless, unable to get his keyblade back in front of him in time to do anything about the tentacles. Unfortunately he had also severely weakened himself and to make matters worse, Sora and Kairi no doubt had an idea his capabilities now. It would be nearly impossible to just surprise them like he had done with Riku. Nihlus heard a battle yell as he struggled back onto his feet and looked up to see both Sora and Kairi charging him with near-murderous expressions on their faces. The heartless that has been distracting them were all still alive, Nihlus had ordered them to teleport back to the realm of darkness if they were about to be defeated, however it seemed that they were all stunned by a particularly powerful thundaga spell.

The tentacles that Nihlus had grown out of his back all launched themselves toward Sora, only to be either dodged or brushed aside. Nihlus managed to just barely mange a clumsy dodge that saved him from Sora's blow. However, not one second after he felt that he was safe, at least for now, he felt an agonizing pain in his back and a pounding sound in his ears. Everything seemed to go in slow motion for him as he glanced over his shoulder to see that Kairi had just finished her strike that had caused him so much agony. Before he could summon a weapon or more tentacles from the darkness, he saw Sora charging at him once more with The Kingdom Key at the ready. Nihlus's eyes widened as the blow literally sent him flying. He was abruptly stopped went he hit the wall of the room. He was only able to get on his knees, that pain from being struck repeatedly by the keyblades alone was enough to keep him from doing anything, and that wasn't even accounting for the actual wounds the weapons gave him.

Nihlus glanced up, panting as he did so, when he felt Sora approach him. The keyblade master pointed his weapon at Nihlus's neck to enforce his point. He was quickly accompanied by Kairi who did the same. "What's so special about my heart?!" Sora demanded in an angry, yet calm tone. The happy go lucky child that Sora almost always acted like had been replaced by Sora the keyblade master, no doubt a result of Nihlus harming Riku. Nihlus glared at Sora and was about to open his mouth, when suddenly the sound of even more heartless teleporting into the room reached Sora and Kairi's ears. They immediately spun around to face them; correctly guessing that Nihlus couldn't harm a fly in his current condition.

There were four invisibles, heartless that resembled muscular demons with small wings and a tail ending in an equally small axe, that all brandished the blue broadswords that they always carried in challenge. Sora and Kairi charged toward them, only to have the heartless fly to the ceiling of the chamber, out of reach. Suddenly they heard yet another heartless teleport in behind them. They both spun around to see yet another invisible appear behind them. However, this one simply wrapped one of it's arms around Nihlus's chest and then helped to lift him up. Nihlus seemed surprised by this, but quickly nodded, for what reason Sora did not know. A dark door appeared behind the invisible and Nihlus, beckoning for them to walk into it.

"This…isn't over" Nihlus said venomously as the invisible supported and guided him through the door. Sora was about to run in after them when Kairi put her hand on his shoulder, stopping him.

"Sora, we need to help Riku!" Kairi's voice was level, but it did carry a tone of urgency. Sora's view shifted between the dark door and Kairi before he made his choice. He turned and nodded at Kairi just as the door closed.

"I'm sorry I…" Sora started, as he looked for the right words. He had nearly abandoned his friends just to pursue Nihlus for crying out loud!

"Don't be," Kairi said as she removed her hand from his shoulder, "I'm just as mad as you are." Sora nodded uncomfortably, Kairi's attempt to comfort him wasn't doing much good. "Let's go," Kairi said, lightly tugging on Sora's arm to get his head out of the clouds. Sora nodded with more enthusiasm at. Our of everyone he knew, Kairi was the only one who could calm him down so easily.

...Though he wouldn't admit it just yet, she also held the biggest part in his heart, she meant more than anything else to him...

"Yeah, let's." Without further ado, the keyblade master and the princess of heart ran toward their downed friend, ready to heal him with both potions and spell.

--

Nihlus grunted as he and the invisible walked through the end of the dark door. They had arrived at their destination, The Castle That Never Was. Nihlus remembered when he had first moved into the castle. He was leading the massive army of heartless that had stormed the place when Sora, Mickey, Riku, Kairi, Donald, and Goofy were rushing toward the altar of naught in order to confront Xemnas. Nihlus himself was busy slaughtering the remaining nobodies, while the heartless tried to delay Sora and co. long enough to actually reach them. Unfortunately, Maleficent and Pete had blocked the army from their objective. Eventually, Nihlus himself stepped in to intervene, but by the time he had driven them away, it was too late for him to actually reach Sora.

"Stupid fire magic!" he muttered to himself as he recalled what Maleficent had done in order to hold him off. Although he could have effortlessly beaten both her and Pete a dozen times over if he used his power to it's fullest extent, especially so close to the dark realm, he hadn't done so out of his desire to avoid giving people an idea of his limits. It was much easier to surprise people as he had done so with Riku when they didn't know what he was capable of. Maleficent he created numerous fire barriers that had hampered his movement for a few precious minutes before he actually reached her, forcing a retreat.

"Well, I'd say you did a pretty good job back there!" an all too familiar voice commented sarcastically. Nihlus's eyes narrowed when he heard it.

"The keyblade masters have gotten a lot stronger," he replied simply, "I'll be able to attack again in a few minutes." What Nihlus said was true. He could feel the darkness healing the wounds he had sustained in the battle. The voice didn't answer him at this, their mental link meant it's owner would be able to understand what he had planned. It would be the height of folly to immediately attack them now that they were on high alert. Nihlus would just have to occupy himself while he waited for a chance to face Sora one on one.

"I can walk by myself, thank you," Nihlus said to the invisible. It nodded it's head and tentatively withdrew itself from Nihlus's side. It's worry was unwarranted, though, as Nihlus was indeed correct. His wounds would be healed even sooner than he had expected. Nihlus walked down the corridors for a little bit before he found the door that he had been searching for. He walked into the room almost reverently. It was very plain, almost empty, except for one outstanding feature. Inside it was a metallic coffin-like structure that Nihlus approached silently, with his head bowed. He stood next to it and placed his right hand on its' surface.

"I'm sorry…" Nihlus said with his head still bowed. His voice sounded choked, as if he was on the verge of tears. His sadness soon turned to anger and rage as his thoughts began to shift from what lay in the coffin to how he had gotten the way he was, and the story behind the coffin like object. "Damn you, Xemnas…" he said to himself as he subconsciously grew heartless claws. "Damn you to Hell!" At this his claws began digging into the surface of the coffin, not enough to seriously damage it though.

"Nihlus, calm down. He's already dead, remember?" the familiar disembodied voice called out. Nihlus shook himself out of his fury and recoiled when he saw that he had scratched the coffin. He briefly berated himself for losing his temper like that, and scratching the coffin. It was one of the few reasons he had to keep on living for.

"I'm sorry it's just…" Nihlus stopped, unable to find the words that would adequately convey how he was feeling.

"I know…" the voice that had been playfully taunting him only a minute ago replied. "Where are we going next?" Nihlus allowed a weak grin to creep onto his face at his constant companion's attempt to change the subject.

"Well, Xemnas did have an office on the world Hollow Bastion before he became a nobody." Nihlus had called Radiant Garden Hallow Bastion due to the fact that all the being even vaguely associated with darkness considered Hollow Bastion to be it's true name, regardless of what the world's inhabitants thought. "There might be something there that can help…save them."

"Ah…well let's not waste any more time then. It seems that your now back in tip top condition!" Nihlus nodded and opened a dark door at this. His emotions could strengthen his powers if they were strong enough, and the bout of rage he had just experienced had accelerated his already formidable healing process.

As he walked through the portal, Nihlus could not have fathomed the significance that his actions on Radiant Garden/ Hollow Bastion would have.

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Okay, I'm still working on the rewrite of the next chapter so just think of it as a basic out line of what's going to happen. You may notice a minor continuity error or two and a major drop in quality, but don't worry, I'll have the revised third chapter up relatively soon. So, just hang in there and don't forget to review!


	3. Chapter 3:Havoc at Hallow Bastion

Notes: Hey, everyone. I'm sorry I've taken so long to update, but I'm dealing with high school and my other story. Any way I hope you enjoy this chapter! (Please review)

Disclaimer: I don't own kingdom hearts only my precious OCs!

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After dragging an unconscious Riku back up into Disney Castle's throne room everyone (except Riku obviously) began to discus what had happened and what to do next. "Your majesty, the heartless swarmed us right after you went down there," Donald reported. "Yeah, but they all just disappeared all of a sudden," Goofy added. "Your majesty, what's going on?" Donald asked. After laying Riku down on the ground Mickey explained about Nihlus and the fight that had taken place in the chamber where the cornerstone of light used to be.

"WHAT!" Donald and Goofy yelled out at the same time. "Why would anyone want to take Sora's heart?" Donald asked. "I have no idea," Mickey answered sullenly. "So what are we going to do now?" Sora asked at a loss. "I think we should try to warn the other worlds about Nihlus before he tries anything," Kairi suggested. No one else had any better ideas and after Mickey said goodbye to Minnie they (meaning Sora, Mickey, Donald, Goofy, and Kairi) all headed for the gummi ship that Nihlus had sent Riku, Sora, and Kairi.

After putting Riku into one of the chairs they made sure the ship wasn't booby trapped before setting off. "So where to first?" Sora asked as he piloted the ship. "Well, Radiant Garden is the closest right now so let's head there," Mickey said after glancing at the map. "Alright, Radiant Garden here we come!"

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Nihlus stepped out of the door to darkness he had summoned and into Ansem's office. Before looking for anything that could help him achieve his goals he made sure that the organization cloak's hood he was wearing concealed his face. After all, there was no sense in letting his existence be known to this world, at least not yet. When he turned to search through the desk he saw the portrait of Xemnas that was still hanging on the wall. Unable to contain himself he grew a shadow-blade out of his arm, charged forward, and practically ripped the picture apart.

"You know, somehow I think you have just a little too much anger inside of you," The voice in his head said. "You know what he did," Nihlus mentally shot back "can you blame me?" After not getting an answer Nihlus turned to the desk and began to search through its drawers. By chance he glanced up and saw that all kinds of books and papers that used to belong to Xemnas before he became a nobody. Four tentacle-like appendages emerged from his back, each ended with a claw-like hand. They began to search through those piles while Nihlus searched in and around the desk.

After a few minutes though, he heard the sound of footfalls from the hallway in front of him. Before Nihlus could react a man in a black leather jacket walked through the door. The man's eyes widened in surprise upon seeing Nihlus (who hadn't retracted his tentacle-arms), but before the man could draw his weapon (which looked like a gun mixed with a sword) three of Nihlus's tentacle-arms pinned him against the wall while the fourth balled into a fist and knocked the man unconscious.

"Well, that was smooth," the familiar voice sarcastically commented in Nihlus's head. "Hey, he was going to draw that gun-blade of his!" Nihlus answered. Before the argument could continue Nihlus sensed a presence moving towards Radiant Garden. "You sensing what I'm sensing?" his companion asked. "Yes," Nihlus answered "it seems that Sora is coming to Radiant Garden. "Well, what are we going to do?" Nihlus simply responded "I didn't find anything useful so we should leave before we have to deal with the keyblade masters and the locals." Right before Nihlus could retract his tentacle-arms and open a dark door he heard someone running down the hall.

"Hey Leon!" a girl with short black hair and an air of hyperness said. There was a bit of an awkward moment with Nihlus standing there, tentacles still out, and Yuffie (the girl who ran in) seeing the unconscious Leon still pinned against the wall. When Yuffie drew her oversized shuriken Nihlus heard his companion sigh and remark "So much for the simply hightailing it out of here,"

-----

After landing the gummi ship in Radiant Garden Sora and co. immediately headed to the headquarters of the Radiant Garden restoration committee (in reality an old house they moved in to). When they walked in they saw Cid, as usual, working on his computer. Cid spun around when he heard the door open. "Hey, what are you guys doing here?" After explaining everything that had happened at Disney castle Sora asked "Hey, where's Leon and Yuffie?" Cid shook his head before responding. "Oh, I sent them to investigate the castle; we were getting some strange readings from it."

Suddenly Cid's normally calm demeanor changed into a panicked one. "Wait, you said this Nihlus guy has control over darkness right?" When everyone nodded Cid quickly got up out of his chair and ran up to the door. "Come on Leon and Yuffie are no pushovers, but there's no way they can stand up to that kind of power!"

The sprint to the castle went by quickly. With no heartless to fight through it only took a few minutes to reach it. Unfortunately it quickly became obvious that they were too late when they saw Yuffie being smashed into the ground by one of Nihlus's shadow –arms. "Nihlus, you bastard!" yelled Riku (who had regained consciousness during the ride to Radiant Garden). Nihlus released the now unconscious Yuffie and turned to face them.

"Ah, I was wondering when you were going to get here," Nihlus said crossing his arms. "I suppose this coat is unnecessary since you probably just warned half the universe about me," Nihlus continued as the organization coat morphed into his usual black leather armor. "You won't get away this time," Sora said summoning his keyblade. Everyone else (except Donald, Goofy, and Cid obviously) followed suit. Nihlus however didn't bother to summon a weapon; he already had an idea to separate Sora from the others.

His four tentacle-arms were replaced by a set of dragon wings, and before anyone could react he rushed forward, grabbed Sora and then flew upward into the air. Ignoring the VERY insulting things Riku said Nihlus, with Sora in tow, flew over one of the many towers of the old castle and then dropped Sora through it's roof. Sora hit the ground with a thud. Although he didn't feel like he had broken any bones the fall still hurt like heck. "Uh, that's the second time that jerk's caught me off guard," Sora muttered after getting off the ground. Looking around the room he was in Sora realized that Nihlus had dropped him into the same tower where he had dueled Riku while he was possessed by Xehanort's heartless.

'It's also where I got turned into a heartless' Sora thought to himself. He was shaken out of his thoughts by Nihlus landing behind him. "What is it that you want?!" Sora asked as he took a battle stance. "I already told you, your heart," Nihlus answered as his wings faded away. "No, I mean why do you want it?" Sora persisted. Nihlus paused before answering. "I'll just have to explain it to your heartless," Nihlus then summoned a darkness-claymore that would have made Saix jealous. It was (unsurprisingly) raven black, with a broad blade, and a serrated edge.

Nihlus charged Sora striking so quickly that Sora barely had time to block it. Unfortunately the sheer force of the blow sent Sora flying into a wall. Before Sora could recover Nihlus un-summoned his claymore, and began to change his right arm into a claw like a shadow heartless's. Sora tried to get up and fight, but he was too shaken to stand on his own two feet, much less fight Nihlus. "I'm sorry about this, but there's truly no other way," Nihlus apologized as he readied his right hand (or in this case claw).

Before Sora could respond Nihlus jammed his shadow-claw through Sora's chest. Although Sora had fought countless heartless during his adventures he had never actually seen a heartless take someone's heart, much less experienced it. The time he impaled himself with Riku's artificial keyblade, he didn't feel anything. This however was totally different. There was no pain or blood from Nihlus's claw, yet his entire body felt frozen.

When he felt Nihlus grip his heart he let out a gasp. It wasn't painful…just shocking. Sora's view began to fade into blackness as he felt Nihlus slowly draw out his heart….

---

Notes: Ooooh cliffhanger. Anyway I hope this keeps you satisfied for a bit since I need to write a chapter for my other story. Please read and review (or I'll make Sora suffer!!! manical laughter)

Ps. I also gave a few more hints about Nihlus's past ,so feel free to take guesses!


	4. Chapter 4: Meet Shadow

Notes: Hey everyone, I finally got this chapter up so please read and review. (And don't hate me if I make bad stuff happen to your favorite characters!) Anyway in this chapter you'll learn a bit more about Nihlus. (note: when I say Xemnas I don't mean Xehanort's heartless or Xehanort himself)

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts only the places and characters I come up with.

--

Sora awoke with a start. The last thing he remembered was Nihlus stealing his heart. "Wait, if he took it, then why am I still me?" Sora said aloud. Looking around he realized that he was in another one of those deep dives. Right now he was standing on one of those stain-glass platforms that always seemed to be present in these things. However, unlike the ones he and Roxas had experienced, the image on the platform had nothing to do with Sora's memories. Instead it had an image of Nihlus standing back to back with what appeared to be a shadow-version of himself.

Orbiting the two Nihluses were three blue circles, each with a face on them. One had a girl, Nihlus's age, with medium length hair and a cheerful expression, another had a boy, also Nihlus's age, with messy hair and joking grin, and the third had on it the arrogant-looking face of Xemnas. Before Sora could do anything he heard a voice ring out of nowhere. "Nihlus, Pull his heart out now before anything goes wrong." Sora jerked around only to see nothing.

"I-I can't do it, Shadow." The voice of Nihlus and Shadow seemed to echo out of nowhere. "What do you mean you can't do it? If you don't there's no telling what will happen, and besides the longer you keep that claw of yours on his heart the higher the chance that your link will become a two way one."

Sora could here Nihlus grumbling "I know I know, but this is so much like what happened before we met." There was a short silence then, somehow Sora could somehow sense that all kinds of emotions flowing through Nihlus. "I'm sorry, but I can't take his heart. He's exactly like me and if I do take it then I'll be no better than Xemnas."

"Nihlus, his heart is inches from being stolen, just one little tug and our mission will be accomplished!" Shadow said desperately.

"No, not this time, my friend," Suddenly Sora felt a sharp pain in his chest. He fell to his knees gasping;

There wasn't anything he could do as his vision began to darken before fading entirely.

--

After shoving Sora's heart back into place Nihlus removed his claw from Sora's chest and then changed it back to normal. "Nihlus, look out!" he heard Shadow yell mentally. Nihlus barely managed to jump out of the way of a furious Riku's keyblade.

'_Damn, why didn't I sense him?'_ Nihlus mentally asked, frustrated.

'_How many times have I said this, you're not as attuned to the darkness as I am so don't expect to be able to sense Riku so easily.'_ came Shadow's immediate reply. When Nihlus turned he gasped at the sight of his opposition.

Everyone that had come with Sora on the gummi ship as well as a conscious (and royally ticked) Leon were all standing with their weapons drawn. "Sora!" Kairi cried out as she ran over to his unconscious form.

"I swear Nihlus, if you did anything to him!" Riku yelled brandishing his keyblade. Nihlus knew he was hopelessly overmatched.

'_Nihlus, I think now would be a good time to make a quick exit,"_ Shadow said nervously.

'_Thank you captain obvious,'_ Nihlus's reply was curt and sarcastic. However before Nihlus could open a darkness door he was charged by both Riku and Kairi. He nimbly step sided Kairi and blocked Riku's blow by forming a shield on his right arm. Shoving Riku aside Nihlus opened a darkness door behind himself not noticing Kairi charging him from behind.

She ran into the portal just as Nihlus jumped back into it.

--

The first thing Kairi felt when she accidentally ran into the portal was cold. It had caught her completely off guard. What was worse though was the feeling of having her heart slowly drawn out of her. She had heard before that using the doors of darkness was dangerous, but she never really thought much about that until now. Time seemed to pass slowly as she felt herself fade away into the darkness. However right before that could happen she felt a grip on her shoulder.

She felt the pull on her heart cease and the cold recede. She gasped out when the end of the door was reached. Looking around she realized that she was in organization thirteen's castle on the world that never was. "That was a close call for you," she heard Nihlus's voice comment dryly. Kairi immediately spun around, keyblade drawn, "Why did you save me?" she asked.

Nihlus shrugged and answered "A simple thanks would be nice."

Kairi muttered a quick "thanks" before asking Nihlus again why he had saved her. "You didn't deserve it," Nihlus answered simply.

Kairi glared and said "Well, that doesn't change anything, we're still enemies!" Nihlus simply looked amused at her reaction

"Well, then by all means try and hit me. I promise I won't lift a finger or tentacle to stop you." Kairi let out a small growl and took a swing at Nihlus with her keyblade.

To Kairi's surprise and alarm when her keyblade hit Nihlus it bounced right off without any interference or reaction from him. "Wha-, how did you do that?!" Kairi asked flabbergasted. Nihlus shook his head.

"I did absolutely nothing. You see the closer I am to the great darkness the more powerful I become and this castle is about as close as you can get without actually entering the realm of darkness." Kairi's eyes widened at this, Nihlus had been more than a handful at Disney castle, slightly closer to the light than most worlds, it was scary to think how powerful he must be here.

"So, what are you going to do about me?" Kairi asked worriedly, as far as she was concerned becoming a heartless was worse than any death. Nihlus opened his mouth to answer but stopped. He really didn't know what he was going to do with Kairi.

_'Crap, what the heck are we supposed to do with her? I can't just let her go, but she's also innocent so I can't kill her or turn her into a heartless.'_ It was at this moment that Shadow decided to speak up.

_'You know, being turned into a heartless isn't that bad. Heck, you and I both know that the dark land has some killer sights.'_

_'Shadow, she doesn't want to become a heartless. Wait that's it, this castle has a holding cell or two on the lower levels!'_ When Nihlus explained to Kairi that he intended to lock her in the castle's prison she practically exploded.

"I am not go-," before she could finish a multitude of tentacles burst from Nihlus's back and lifted Kairi off the ground.

"I was hoping I wouldn't have to do this the hard," way Nihlus said as he walked down the corridors with Kairi in tow. Kairi struggled against the tentacles but to no avail. They had lifted her off the ground and pinned her arms to her side so she couldn't use her keyblade (not that it would have done any good). Eventually she gave up, but only because she was exhausted.

"Here we are," Nihlus said when they reached one of the holding cells. After putting Kairi in the cell and locking the door Nihlus said "If you need anything or have some questions let me know, I could use the company." Kairi thought for a moment. Deciding that she might be able to learn something useful she decided to take Nihlus up on his offer, besides she was curious.

"Alright, how did you get your powers?" Nihlus seemed fazed by this, but whatever memories were brought up by that question where quickly shoved into the back of his head.

"Ah, that's a rather interesting question. Allow me to introduce Shadow, both my friend and the origin of my powers." With that a shadow version of Nihlus simply walked right out of his body, though like a shadow it was still connected to Nihlus.

It gave a quick bow and then said "Hi, I'm Shadow the almighty, ass-kicking being of darkness!" If it wasn't for her predicament Kairi would probably be chuckling at Shadow's antics.

"Shadow, please watch your language," Nihlus said, mildly annoyed. Shadow simply shrugged and went back into Nihlus.

"Okay, how did you and Shadow meet?" Kairi asked.

This time Nihlus was clearly affected by the various (and rather traumatizing) memories flowing through his mind. He spun around holding his head. "I'm going to go eat something, but before I forget I need to do one last thing." At this he turned around. Nihlus formed a dark energy ball and then hurled it at the cell door. The moment the blast hit the door the heartless emblem appeared on it. "I sealed the door so that your keyblade can't open it." Nihlus explained walking away.

"Hey, if you get bored call me and we can play a board game or something!" Shadow's voice echoed from Nihlus.

_'By the way Nihlus, we need to talk about the whole you sparing Sora thing.'_ Shadow told Nihlus through their mental link.

Kairi moved herself onto the cell's bunk. Right now there wasn't much she could do._ 'Sora, please don't come for me,'_ she thought to herself. If Nihlus could defeat Sora in Radiant Garden then it would be a one man massacre if he tried to fight Nihlus here.

Meanwhile Nihlus had just picked a sandwich out of fridge in the castle's kitchen. The fact that thirteen nobodies used to live here meant that Nihlus had a huge supply of food lying around. Just as he started to eat a teenager with spiky blonde hair, blue eyes, and an organization coat walked into the room. "Who are you?" Nihlus asked preparing to summon all manner of weapons in case this person meant harm. The teenager turned to Nihlus with a confused look.

He seemed to have trouble recalling his own name for a moment. "My name is…Roxas."

--

Notes: Wow, out of one cliffhanger and into another. Anyway if anyone who is reading this is a Roxas fan, no I didn't make him retarded (heck he's my favorite character in the series) Anyway please R&R. (that way Mooncry doesn't have to do all the reviewing for this story)


	5. Chapter 5: The Chaser

Notes: Alright, inspiration finally hit me (in the kisser that is). I've decided to incorporate the secret ending of the KH2 final mix into my story, so if you haven't already seen it then you might want to go on you tube or something. (It's really awesome!)

Disclaimer: I don't own kingdom hearts, only the characters I invent (I think I'll get Nihlus to do my disclaimers from now on, pray he doesn't kill me 

--

As Sora regained consciousness he could hear multiple voices whispering, though he couldn't understand what they were saying. When he sat up and took a look at his surroundings he realized that he was on a spare bed in the Radiant Garden Restoration Committee's base i.e. Merlin's house.

"Ah, good you're awake," Sora heard Riku say. Sora immediately looked sideways to see Donald and Goofy standing next to Riku.

"Wait, where's the king?" Sora asked. Donald and Goofy both exchanged sad looks before Riku answered for both of them.

"He said that he was going to get help to fight Nihlus and then ran off taking the gummi ship with him."

"I still can't believe the king ran off again," Goofy said sadly. As Sora shifted to get out of the bed he couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong.

"What were you guys whispering about while I was unconscious?" Sora asked as he got out of the bed. Donald, Goofy, and Riku all looked surprised and somewhat disturbed.

"We weren't whispering anything, Sora," Goofy replied. "Maybe you need to lay down for a little longer,"

Sora shook his head rapidly "No, really I'm feeling fine! It was probably just my imagination!" Despite his claim that he was feeling great Sora still couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. "Hey, where's Kairi ?" Sora asked when he noticed she wasn't in the room/house. Riku, Donald and Goofy all exchanged nervous looks at this.

"Uh Sora, she uh ,well uh," Donald stuttered, not wanting to break the bad news to Sora just yet.

"She jumped into the darkness portal Nihlus summoned when he got away," Riku blurted out as fast as he could.

There was a short silence as the full impact of Riku's words dawned upon Sora. "WHAT!" Sora yelled loudly, practically hitting the roof in the process.

"Sora, please don't do anything stupid," Riku ordered balling his right hand into a fist in case he needed to put Sora back to sleep the "hard" way. Before any violence could ensue everyone heard an angry, female voice yell out

"Hey, keep it down!" followed by the sound of footfalls. Yuffie, holding an ice pack to her head, came around from behind the curtain-like fabric that Merlin and Cid used to divide their halves of the house.

"What's all the racket for?!" she asked crossly. Riku took advantage of Sora's momentary distraction to slug him right across the face. Sora collapsed onto the bed in a crumpled heap, completely unconscious. Yuffie jumped, utterly startled, at this.

"Wow, if he's your best friend I'd hate to see what you do to your enemies!" Yuffie commented putting her ice pack on Sora's head.

"He'll thank me for it later," Riku answered bitterly. Yuffie shrugged and then went off to find a replacement ice pack, after all being slammed repeatedly into the ground by shadow arms would give anyone a headache no matter how thickskulled they may be.

"Uh, Riku, what are we going to do when Sora wakes up?" Goofy asked, understandably concerned about what lengths Sora might go to rescue Kairi, provided she wasn't a heartless by now. Riku shrugged in response. "That depends on whether or not he stays calm." Donald seemed somewhat upset by how Riku was handling the possibility that Kairi might be a heartless or dead.

"Well, it's good to know you won't be losing any sleep tonight!" Donald said angrily. That got Riku's attention.

"Hey, there's nothing we can do right now! The king took the gummi ship and we don't even know where Nihlus or Kairi are in the first place!" Donald muttered a quick apology, clearly ashamed of his behavior.

"I'm just as worried about Kairi as everyone else is," Riku said, his tone softening "but for now all we can do is wait for the king to return." A silence followed as Riku, Donald, and Goofy all tried to get as comfortable as possible, there was no telling when Mickey would be back.

It was at that moment when Goofy decided to ask "Say, Riku, isn't "The Return of the King" a movie or somthing?"

--

"So let me get this straight, you can't remember anything?" Nihlus asked.

"Well, actually I can still remember bits and pieces, but other than that, yea," Roxas answered from across the table they were sitting at, his voice laced with confusion. From what Nihlus could gather Roxas had simply appeared, amnesia stricken, in the organization's castle and just happened to stumble upon him.

_'Nihlus, do you think the fact that you ALMOST took Sora's heart has anything to do with this?'_ That idea startled Nihlus.

'_WHAT! That's not possible, a nobody cannot exist unless their counterpart losses their heart.'_ Nihlus noticed Roxas staring at him strangely, after all from Roxas's point of view Nihlus's facial expression changed from neutral to one of surprise for no apparent reason.

'_You're forgetting, Roxas is no ordinary nobody, but we can debate this later. From the looks he's giving you I think you might want to say something before he gets freaked out and makes a mess of things.'_ Nihlus snapped out of his mental conversation with Shadow to mutter a quick apology to Roxas for being "caught up in thought".

"Um right, you seem to know a bit about me so would you mind explaining who I am?" Roxas asked. Nihlus thought for a moment, he really didn't have time to narrate to Roxas how he came into existence since it could take quite awhile.

_'Wait, that's it!'_ Nihlus thought to himself once he realized the solution to his problem.

"Roxas, come with me, there's some documents that should clear things up a bit," Nihlus said as he got out of his chair. Roxas shrugged and began to follow Nihlus who, as far as he was concerned, was the only way to regain his memories. Nihlus led Roxas through the corridors of the organization's castle until they reached the door to Xemnas's office. "They're right in here," Nihlus said opening the door. As he walked in Roxas was shocked to see what was left of Xemnas's office. Almost everything in it seemed like it had been hacked, sliced, smashed, or outright torn apart a billion times over.

"What happened here?!" Roxas asked, though his memories were fragmented he did recall that the man named Xemnas was quite organized and neat. Nihlus shrugged casually as he began to sift through the remains of Xemnas's desk.

"Oh, a little thing called 'payback'," he said, his eyes flashing at the memories of tearing everything Xemnas held precious apart. "Ah, here we are!" Nihlus exclaimed upon finding what appeared to be a plain brown folder. He walked over to Roxas and handed it to him. "Xemnas, being the organized bastard that he was, kept profiles on all the members of the organization," Nihlus explained as Roxas leafed through it "it should contain all the information you need."

Roxas looked up at Nihlus surprised. "Thank you," was all he said before he opened one of the dark portals, his next destination was the one place that stuck out the most of all his memories: Twilight town.

_'So, now that he's out of our hair wanna play cards or something?'_ Shadow asked Nihlus as he walked out of his body taking physical form.

"Shadow, right now I'm curious about Sora," Nihlus answered, deep in thought.

"Oh, in what way?" Shadow crossed his arms in a playful manner, as if to goad Nihlus into answering.

"If Roxas is in existence now, I wonder what state Sora is in?" Shadow shook his head.

"Then sate your curiosity and open up that link you have with him!"

Nihlus gave a quick nod and began to access the link between Sora and the darkness, the link that had existed ever since the time Sora became a heartless...

--

Even though he was unconscious Sora could feel something touch his mind. It was like a dream, it seemed both real and unreal at the same time. Suddenly his mind was flooded with what seemed to be snippets of memories as countless images began to flash through him. He couldn't make heads or tales of most of them until one regarding Kairi came seemingly out of nowhere.

Riku was surprised to say the least when Sora suddenly bolted up out of the bed yelling something about Kairi. "Woah, Sora, calm down will ya!" He yelled.

"Kairi, she's on the World That Never Was!" Sora gasped out, clearly worked up. Before Riku could ask how Sora knew that he heard the door open behind him. He, Donald, and Goofy (who hadn't left Sora's side the entire time) all stood shocked when they saw who walked through it.

King Mickey walked in followed by a tall man completely covered in medieval-style armor. What was most shocking though was the fact that the man carried a large keyblade. Before anyone could bombard him with questions Mickey quickly began to explain everything. "His name is Terra and he's a chaser, a hunter of darkness." The man then took off his helmet revealing his face. He had brown hair that was combed neatly and piercing blue eyes.

"I'm afraid, from what your king has told me that you are dealing with something far worse than any mere heartless."

Riku raised an eyebrow at this "Oh, and just what are we dealing with?"

If Terra was angered by Riku's attitude he didn't show it. "You are dealing with a champion of darkness, the counterpart of the keyblade masters."

--

And now you have a hint about Nihlus's true nature as well as his motives. Please R&R. By the way did the humor seem a little out of place? If it did just let me know.


	6. Chapter 6: A Past Revealed

Notes: Alright everyone this chapter is going to be a big revelation one in which you finally find out Nihlus's past and his motive for trying to kill/ turn Sora into a heartless. R&R If you want to show that you like this story or help me improve me writing ability

* * *

Riku was having doubts about this "chaser" that Mickey had brought to help defeat Nihlus. He couldn't help but wonder; if he was in fact a hunter of darkness why didn't he help defeat Xehanort's heartless? He was also claiming that Nihlus was the counterpart of the keyblade masters, which couldn't be true since Nihlus was only Sora's age and the war between light and darkness had been going on since the beginning of time.

And of course Riku just had to voice his thoughts, regardless of whether or not it they were deemed to be polite. "The king said you were 'a' chaser, where are all the others?" Riku asked without a slightest hint of embarrassment.

Terra visibly winced at Riku's question, but answered nevertheless. "They were…all killed by this Nihlus's predecessor." Immediately any hostile thoughts Riku had about Terra evaporated in an instant. There was a short silence before anyone said anything.

"So, there have been more than one dark champion?" Sora asked carefully trying not to offend Terra.

Terra nodded in response. "Not quite, there hasn't been one around since the great keyblade war." Upon seeing Sora's confusion he shot Mickey an angry look. "You didn't tell them!?" Everyone in the room was surprised to say the least. Not in their wildest dreams had they ever imagined anyone having enough gall to yell at the king.

"I never really had time." Mickey said turning away from Terra. Whether it was out of guilt or an attempt to stop a fight, no one knew. Terra didn't bother to nurse a pointless grudge and instead of needling Mickey he turned to Sora, Riku, Donald, and Goofy.

"The keyblade war took place during a time when there were literally thousands of keyblade wielders." Terra explained. "The keyblades themselves were aligned to either light or darkness, causing great enmity to be seeded between the two armies. Eventually war broke out when an imbalance between the light and dark was sensed by all keyblade wielders, regardless of alignment. Both sides accused the other and when attempts to solve the problem peacefully failed, they turned on each other. During the final battle, in which the light managed to get the upper hand after years of war, the chasers, keyblade wielders aligned with the light, were about to finish off the dark army when the dark champion revealed himself. He slaughtered every single chaser there and was only stopped when he and the chasers' leader, General Raso, killed each other in a duel."

There was silence as everyone took in this significant bit of history behind the keyblade. "Just out of curiosity, how did those guys get their keyblades? Were they chosen by them?" Riku asked genuinely curious. Terra paused with a thoughtful expression on his face.

"I'm sorry, but that is one of the chasers' secrets my father made swear to never reveal unless some terrible crisis demands it." Riku was disappointed but didn't pursue the issue further.

"Is there some way we can beat him without one of us dying?" Sora asked, not noticing Riku balling his hands into fists just in case Sora got rowdy again.

Terra shook his head. "We might be able to if we could get him close to the realm of light, but there's no way he would willingly get anywhere near it."

"Great, so why did you bother to come all the way here?" Riku asked irritably. Although Sora knew Riku's comment wasn't called for, he did share in Riku's frustration.

"Because, you'll need all the help you can get when Nihlus tries to take Sora's heart again." Terra replied, still keeping any anger he had at Riku's rudeness bottled up.

"What! We can't just sit around here! Kairi is on the World That Never Was and needs our help!" Sora exclaimed, summoning his keyblade to reinforce his point. Donald and Goofy both let out groans, knowing what was going to happen next. Riku raised his fist to knock Sora unconscious again only to have Terra stop him.

"How do you know that?" Terra asked looking directly into Sora's eyes. Despite the fact that he was somewhat uncomfortable with the look Terra was giving him Sora still answered immediately without the slightest hint of nervousness.

"I had a vision while I was unconscious; it looked like someone's memories." Sora said. Terra's facial expression changed from neutral to one of horror in an instant.

"You became a heartless at one point during your adventures, correct?" Terra asked. Sora nodded , confused at what Terra was getting at. "Sora, it's possible that you and Nihlus may have a mental link." Everyone in the room gasped.

"T-that's not possible!" Sora stammered, horrified at the thought of Nihlus having access to his mind. Yet no matter how much he denied it in his mind he knew it was true.

"Well, at lest we know how Nihlus has been tracking you," Mickey said trying to remain optimistic.

"So, what are we going to do?" Goofy asked concernedly. Terra looked down in thought.

"For now, all we can do is wait for Nihlus to make the first move."

* * *

Roxas sat on the roof top of one of the buildings in Twilight Town with the documents that Nihlus had given him in hand. They had been very helpful in regaining his memories, but he couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. Right now, however, Roxas was at a loss as to what he was going to do next. 'Uh, I can't help but feel that something's missing but what?' Roxas thought, growling out loud in frustration. One of the most annoying things that could happen to a person was to forget something and then have to try and remember what it is they forgot. 'Wait didn't Namine have power over memories? Maybe she could help!' Roxas quickly got up, excited. 'If I can find Sora then Kairi should be with him, and that means I might be able to ask her if she can help!' Right when Roxas was about to open a dark door that would take him to the Destiny islands, he saw a man in a white organization-style cloak that concealed his identity open a dark door and run through it.

His curiosity aroused, Roxas jumped down from the rooftop and dashed into the dark door just before it could close.

* * *

Nihlus was pacing around the castle's arena in an attempt to alleviate his boredom. 'How much longer?' Nihlus telepathically asked Shadow.

'_Oh, he should be done any minute now.'_ Shadow answered, equally as bored as his partner. Nihlus simply grunted out loud in response. Since neither of them had any brilliant, master-plans, and were reluctant to leave Kairi guarded by only heartless, they had decided to try to kill some time by getting Nihlus's double-bladed staff upgraded. Nihlus heard a heartless teleporting behind him and spun around eagerly to greet it.

The heartless appeared to be an ordinary soldier except for the fact that it held a hammer in one hand and Nihlus's now-upgraded staff. "Hey, thanks Smith!" Nihlus said, taking his staff when the heartless offered it to him. "You really worked your heart out on this one, didn't you?" Smith nodded in response. Nihlus could sense that if Smith had a mouth he'd be smiling. Nihlus admired his staff as he held it.

It was now made totally out of metal, with the blades at both ends of the staff having the appearance of lightning bolts. Although Nihlus wasn't a dark champion when Smith became a heartless he did get the impression the he was a blacksmith, or something along those lines, in his previous state of existence. Smith teleported away as Nihlus strapped his staff across his back. '_Hey, Shadow, let's go check on Kairi, just in case she needs something.'_

'_Sure, what the heck,'_ came Shadow's unenthusiastic reply. It only took about a minute for Nihlus to navigate through the castle's corridors and arrive at Kairi's cell. Looking through the cell bars he could see her sitting on the bunk looking somewhat dejected.

"Are you feeling alright?" Nihlus asked as gently as he could. Kairi jerked up, surprised by Nihlus's presence.

"Oh, I'm just being held prisoner by a sociopath, but other than that I'm fine." Kairi replied venomously. Nihlus was taken aback by Kairi's response. He knew that she was upset about her technical capture, but he didn't expect her to take it so personally.

"You think I'm a sociopath?" Nihlus asked dryly. Kairi nodded while shooting Nihlus a death-glare in response.

"You know, somehow I'm really not surprised that you and your friends consider me to be a monster, an abomination of the human race." Kairi's glare intensified at this, he had tried to kill Sora and that made him a monster in her eyes. Nihlus shook his head before continuing. "That's the problem with you light-wielders, you are too blinded by your ideals to stop and even consider the possibility that you're wrong." At this Kairi's glare began to soften just a tiny bit.

"What do you mean by that?" Kairi asked genuinely curious at to what Nihlus was getting at. Nihlus seemed somewhat surprised that was actually listening to, but quickly hid it.

"Tell me, what do you think killing thousands of heartless does to the darkness as a whole?" Kairi pondered his question before answering.

"It drives it back to where it belongs?"

Nihlus sighed out loud and shook his head. "As Sora went about on his last two adventures he killed thousands of heartless, ruining the balance between light and darkness even more." Kairi's mouth stood agape at this.

"Are you saying that the dark is in danger?" Nihlus nodded in response. "That's the most ridiculous thing I've heard in my entire life!"

"Is it? Have you never stopped to think why the heartless have been so desperate to increase their number? Why the darkness itself desperately reaches out in an attempt to take hearts? It is not because it is in the darkness's nature; it is because the balance between light and darkness has been tipped far into the light's favor"

Kairi's mouth practically hit the floor when she heard this. It was impossible and yet it all made sense. "You probably just have some ulterior motive that you're trying to justify!" Kairi said trying to convince herself that Nihlus was lying. Nihlus's facial expression immediately became a dead serious one.

"Yes, I do have a personal motive, but the imbalance is very real, Kairi" Nihlus said darkly. Before Kairi could respond Nihlus took out a photo from what appeared to be a hidden pocket that had been concealed by use of Nihlus's darkness manipulating abilities. He showed the picture to Kairi. On it were four people standing next to each other in front of a fountain, smiling. One was a girl with blue hair and blues eyes, the second looked almost identical to Nihlus only without the slight paleness and golden eyes, the third was a red-head with short and messy hair, and the fourth was an adult red head, with longer and messier hair than the other red head.

"Aqua, Ven, Ale, and I were inseparable before our 'encounter' with Xemnas. Kairi stared at the photo; she couldn't help but feel she had seen this 'Ale' before. (Note: the boy that looked identical to Nihlus is him in the past and Ven is the younger redhead)

"What happened?" Kairi asked in a surprisingly soft tone. Nihlus winced from just recalling the memories.

"Me Aqua and Ven went exploring one day and ran into Xemnas and Vexen while they were searching our world for someone they could use to study hearts." Nihlus laughed bitterly at this point "As you can imagine three teenagers armed with sticks were no match for the two of them, and we wound up being knocked unconscious, or in my case halfway frozen and then knocked unconscious, and dragged back to this very castle. It turns out they were testing to see if they could get a machine to remove peoples' hearts so that they wouldn't have to rely on Sora, who they considered to be a loose canon."

Nihlus seemed to be in a trance as he continued to tell Kairi his past. "We were all strapped onto the three prototypes and then Vexen began the 'experiment'. First he tested it on Ven; who simply faded away, heart and all. The next was Aqua, I don't know what happened to her heart but she fell into a coma-like state afterwards." Nihlus gulped and Kairi could've sworn his eyes were beginning to water. "And then, my turn came."

"They finally got the machine to work the way they wanted, it took my heart without it fading into nothingness or being claimed by darkness. Unfortunately, they could only get that damned machine to work on one person at a time, which was far to slow for their plans, so Xemnas decided that I had served my purpose and threw me and Aqua's comatose body into a dark door leading to the realm of darkness."

"That's…horrible!' Kairi exclaimed despite herself. No matter how much she tried she couldn't bring herself to hate Nihlus now that she had seen him in this new, tragic light.

"Yes, but the saying 'good can come of evil' was true in that case. You see, moments after Aqua's body and I arrived in the dark realm some heartless showed up and led me to this shadow-keyblade embedded in the ground. I couldn't feel any emotion, not even fear of death or grief over losing my bets friends, so I picked it up and was transformed into what you see today." Kairi shot Nihlus a questioning look when he finished.

"That keyblade turned out to be Shadow. The moment I picked it up we were symbiotically bound to each other; with him taking the place of my heart, allowing me to feel emotion again and wield darkness itself. We both agreed to use my nickname that Aqua and Ven used to call me when we were together: Nihlus. I functioned as Shadow's host, allowing him to leave the realm of darkness without dying, as well as instructing him on the finer points of fighting with a physical form. After that we spent about a year and a half training, the same year Sora spent sleeping in that pod of his."

"So, what exactly are you?" Kairi asked wondering whether to consider him a heartless, nobody, or a normal person with extraordinary power. Nihlus shrugged in response.

"I don't quite know myself, but it doesn't matter; I am the dark champion of this era, and I will restore the balance by taking Sora's heart." Nihlus said as he walked away, leaving Kairi to ponder the magnitude of his words.

* * *

Goofy yawned as he sat slumped against the wall of Merlin's house. Everyone else was more or less doing the same thing, trying to kill time. They had pretty much been reduced to waiting for something to happen, since Terra claimed a frontal assault on Nihlus wouldn't work. Suden;y ,before Goofy should drift off to sleep he saw a dark door opening up at the other end of the room. He, like everyone else drew his weapon, ready to clobber anything that came though the dark door.

To everyone's surprise (and in a few cases disappointment) a man in a white-organization style coat, carrying two jars with a heart in each, came through the door. "Who do you think you are, barging in here like that!?" Sora asked taking a battle stance.

"An ally that can help you deal with your problem," The man answered. Riku shifted uneasily, somehow this guy's voice sounded familiar. Before anyone could question the stranger further Roxas jumped out of the door right before it closed, nearly hitting the man in the process.

"Roxas, is that you?" Sora asked. Roxas looked up at Sora, he was as surprised to see Sora as Sora was to see him.

"If you don't mind, I think we have more pressing issues than this petty reunion," The man said irritably.

"Why don't you take off that hood of yours first?" Riku demanded, pointing his keyblade in a hostile manner at the stranger. The stranger shrugged, sat one of the jars on the floor and used his free hand to remove the hood covering his face.

"XEMNAS!" was everyone's (minus Terra's) response to seeing none other than the former leader of Organization 13.

"Yes, and as I said before I can help you get Nihlus close enough to the light to be… disposed of." Xemnas said looking at the jar he still held with a cruel grin.

* * *

Ok, people this is the longest chapter I have done in my entire (albeit short) writing career. It seems that Nihlus is going to run into a few complications in the next chapter… Please R&R to tell me what you think!

P.s. now you know why Nihlus has been able to take Sora and co. on so easily: he has a lot more experience with his powers than they do with their keyblades. (and he has Shadow helping him)


	7. Chapter 7: Terra vs Nihlus

Notes: Alright, I decided to make another chapter early to help explain a few questions in the previous chapter. I think you'll find the chapters I'm writing as you read this VERY interesting.

p.s. I know that Ven is the Roxas-look-alike, I'll have my explanation in the next chapter. (And maybe throw a few strong hints around in this chapter)

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts, only my beloved OCs (crap I forgot to make Nihlus do it this time!)

* * *

"What makes you think we trust you?!" Riku practically yelled at Xemnas. Although everyone had a reason to loathe Xemnas, Riku had the biggest grudge of all due to Xemnas's resemblance to Xehanort's heartless.

Xemnas frowned at Riku's question, mildly annoyed. "Because, we share a common enemy that can't be defeated through conventional means." Although everyone was suspicious of Xemnas, they couldn't deny that he had a point.

"Why do you want to help us anyway?" Donald asked readying his staff if and when his spells were needed.

Xemnas grinned crookedly at Donald's question. "Let's just say Nihlus and I have a bit of a… history, and if he manages to learn that I survived that fight I had with you, I assure you I won't have a very pleasant death."

Nobody trusted Xemnas, or even knew how he had survived his battle with Sora and Riku, but there was no denying that they could use his help.

"What exactly is your plan?" Terra asked stepping forward.

"You say that the only sure-fire way to beat him is to lure him near the realm of light, correct?" Terra nodded in affirmation. "Well, I happen to know of an object of great personal value to Nihlus, and if I can 'acquire' it then he won't be able to resist the urge to try and retrieve it."

"So, what are those hearts for?" Sora asked out of curiosity.

"They go along with what I intend to take from Nihlus." Xemnas answered offhandedly. Though Sora's gut was telling him that Xemnas was up to something, his plan did seem sound enough to work. "Were do you need me to lure him?" Xemnas asked as he turned around, preparing to open a dark door.

"The keyblade graveyard," Terra said softly. Xemnas nodded, knowing where Terra meant, and then walked through the door. Terra then turned to address Sora and co. "We can use the gummi ship, I know quickest way to get there."

* * *

The dark door that Xemnas opened transported him directly into the room that Nihlus used to store the coffin-like object that he considered to be so precious. Xemnas looked around the room to make sure there were no security measures that he'd have to get around. After being satisfied that there weren't any booby-traps Xemnas walked toward the coffin, still highly alert. He had barely managed to stop himself from simply fading out of existence when Sora and Riku defeated him. As a result, however, his powers had been strained to near-breaking. If Nihlus caught him he wouldn't stand a chance against him, in fact he probably couldn't beat Nihlus even if he was lured close to the realm of light.

Thus he needed the keyblade masters to deal with Nihlus. He walked over to the coffin-like object in the middle of the room. Wasting no time, Xemnas quickly walked toward it and opened a dark door that led to the keyblade graveyard Terra mentioned. He began to push the coffin through the door when he heard rushed footfalls echoing in the hallway. Although he knew that Nihlus couldn't sense him due to the fact that he was neutral in terms of alignment, the fact that he used a dark portal may have alerted Nihlus to the fact that something was up.

Xemnas quickly shoved the coffin through the portal before jumping in it himself, but not before throwing down a note he had taken the time to write that would guarantee Nihlus's doom. He was just in time as the moment he jumped through the dark portal he summoned Nihlus came bounding into the room.

* * *

Nihlus watched in horror as some kind of thief stole the coffin-like object he treasured. "NO!" he yelled out even as he began sprinting toward the dark door the thief had used to get into the room. Although he didn't get a good look at the thief Nihlus could guarantee that whoever he was, he was going to get a beating he would not soon forget. Nihlus was about halfway across the room when he felt his limbs tighten, completely immobilized by some invisible force.

Looking down at his arms and legs he saw them to be covered with pure darkness. 'Damn it, Shadow, let go!' Nihlus telepathically commanded as he inched his way towards the portal.

'_Nihlus, think this through!'_ Shadow pleaded desperately, his voice strained from the effort of slowing Nihlus to a crawl. Because they were symbiotically bound to each other they both had a degree of control over each other, Nihlus over Shadow's darkness controlling abilities and Shadow over Nihlus's body. Nihlus simply growled at Shadow's request and continued to take small steps toward the portal.

Suddenly a darkness tentacle shot out of Nihlus's back, driving itself into the wall in an attempt to pull him away from the portal. 'Two can play at that game!' Nihlus thought as he morphed his arm into a tentacle and buried it into the wall opposite of the one Shadow was using to try and halt his advance. Nihlus pulled on the tentacle that was his arm in an attempt to get closer to the dark portal, all the while mentally grappling with Shadow.

After about thirty seconds of this the dark-portal closed and Nihlus fell to his knees in exhaustion. '_Why did you stop me?!'_ Nihlus angrily asked Shadow.

'_That portal leads to the keyblade graveyard, which just so happens to be very close to the realm of light. It would have been a slaughter if I let you go through!'_

_'I know, why do you think I was trying to get at him?'_

_'Not HIS slaughter OUR slaughter!'_

_'I can't just let him take Aqua's body!'_

_'Calm down and think will you! They can't get through the coffin's security, Smith built it and we added our own tricks into it, remember? Besides even if they could get the bloody thing open it's not like they'd do anything to Aqua's body right?'_ (A/N: He didn't mean anything like that! You sick-minded pervs!)

Nihlus had to admit Shadow did have a point. He was just about to calm down and reconsider reopening the portal the thief used to escape through, when he saw a note lying on the ground. He quickly picked it up and began reading it in one quick movement. _'Ah, shit'_ he heard Shadow comment when he finished reading it. The note claimed that the thief had Ven and Aqua's hearts with; practically guarantying that Nihlus would pursue him.

'_Um, Ven's body vanished into nothingness, so unless you can find a replacement or something, retrieving his heart would be pointless?'_ Shadow pointed out, knowing full-well that his excuse wouldn't stop Nihlus.

'_I'm going to bring Kairi with us that should make them think twice about any kind of trickery.'_ Shadow knew there was no point in trying to stop Nihlus. He was too exhausted from their last match and besides Nihlus was feeling a huge amount of anger right now, and one of the darkness's main source of power was raw emotion, meaning he couldn't hope to overpower Nihlus right now.

In fact all he could do was hope that Nihlus's emotions would be enough to offset the negative effects of fighting so close to the light. '_Are you ready Shadow?'_ Nihlus asked when he reached Kairi's cell's door.

_'Yeah, I just hope we get out of this alive.'_

* * *

Sora watched as Terra knelt down in front of one of the thousands of keyblades that littered this places landscape. He seemed to be paying his respects to a fallen comrade. This world, the keyblade graveyard as it was called, seemed to be nothing more than a desert with thousands of keyblades stuck into the ground. Looking around Sora saw Roxas and Riku idling away. Mickey had decided to stay in Radient Garden and try to find out what Nihlus was looking for there. Donald and Goofy decided to stay with him.

"Uh, Terra, if you don't mind me asking, what's so special about this place?" Sora asked. Terra got up from his kneeling and turned to face Sora.

"This was were the final battle between the chasers and the dark keyblade wielders took place."

"Oh" was all Sora said as he looked at how many keyblades there were organized into mini-graveyards. He heard a dark door open and spun around to see Xemnas with a coffin-like object in tow.

"He should be here any minute now," Xemnas said as he walked over to the spot were he left the two hearts he claimed went along with his plant to lure Nihlus to the keyblade graveyard.

"We're just knocking him unconscious, right?" Roxas asked. Unlike everyone else he was actually indifferent to Nihlus. In fact the only reason he came along was so that he could keep track of Sora. Roxas's question was met with silence. Although Sora had no intention of killing Nihlus he did need to force him to give Kairi back to them somehow.

"There he is!" Riku yelled out pointing to another dark door. Indeed, out of the door came Nihlus, holding Kairi by her shoulder and carrying his double bladed staff, ready for battle.

As Nihlus stepped out of the portal he could feel his and Shadow's power being drained. 'Oh God, Nihlus, that guy in armor is a chaser!' Shadow exclaimed, his panic clearly evident. Normally Nihlus would have been scared or in some way affected by what Shadow said, but this was hardly a "normal" situation, even by his standards. All of his attention was focused on the thief, none other than Xemnas himself. He saw Terra motion for everyone else to stand back, but he was more concerned about the two jars, which had Ven and Aqua's hearts in them, that Xemnas was holding.

"Give those back now!" Nihlus demanded stepping forward. Unfortunately, he didn't notice that Kairi had summoned her keyblade until she slashed him in the side with it. Nihlus yelped in pain and almost collapsed to his knees while Kairi mad a dash to reunite with Sora.

'_Ugh, Shadow, a keyblade has never hurt me that badly before; it feels like something burned me.'_

'_The light must be empowering them while weakening us.'_

Nihlus growled and then got up. He saw Xemnas walking towards him carrying the two jars and wearing a smug grin. "Not so tough now, are you?" he asked. That was the last mistake Xemnas would ever make on account of his arrogance.

"XEMNAS, YOU BASTARD!" Nihlus yelled out, all his rage coming forth. What happened next was easily the most frightening of his transformations. His leather armor began to morph and change into black metal, the staff he carried was covered in darkness and morphed into an immense shadow-scythe. The most disturbing thing though was his eyes. Despite the fact that his armor now included a twisted version of the helmet Terra wore, Nihlus's eyes glowed through it in a manner similar to a darkside's. "REAPER'S DANCE!" Nihlus yelled out as two wing-like pieces of shadow-metal emerged from his back.

He half ran half flew towards Xemnas with his scythe and with an upwards strike sent him flying into the air. He then flew up and proceeded to knock Xemnas around in the air like a one man baseball game. It looked like some twisted kind of dance that only one such as Nihlus could do. "Is that smoke?" Sora asked pointing at Nihlus. Indeed the armor had a kind of black mist emanating from it. The armor seemed to be fading away, no doubt a result of fighting so close to the light.

Suddenly Nihlus knocked Xemnas onto the ground and, before he could react, slammed the blade of the scythe through Xemnas's chest. As he watched Xemnas gasping for breath Nihlus asked "Do WE appear to be weak now?" his voice sounding like Shadow's and his own mixed together. Xemnas gave one last shudder before fading out of existence, for good this time.

Immediately after the armor outright disintegrated, and the staff reverted to it's normal form. '_Crap, Nihlus, we used all your anger to take out Xemnas! We're sitting ducks!'_

Nihlus ignored Shadow's comments, though he knew them to be true. Terra advanced forward with his keyblade pointed at Nihlus. "This is the end of the line, dark champion."

Nihlus didn't bother to answer; instead he strapped his staff to his back once more and summoned a darkness claymore. He only used his staff when he couldn't use his powers. Terra and Nihlus charged each other, their weapons colliding in midair. The force of the impact sent both combatants flying into separate "graveyards" of keyblades. Terra's armor shielded him from the damage. Nihlus, however, was not so lucky. He groaned as he sat up, his back aced from the landing. His claymore had been destroyed when it hit Terra's keyblade.

With surprising speed Terra sprinted toward Nihlus and struck him across his head, sending him flying toward the coffin. He landed on his back, his shock preventing him from even getting up. Terra stepped forward and raised his keyblade over his head in preparation to deliver the final blow. "Wait, don't!" Kairi yelled out, knowing full-well what Nihlus had been through. Terra, however, either didn't hear her or chose to ignore her. Just before his keyblade could hit Nihlus a clawed shadow-hand emerged from Nihlus's chest and caught it.

"I won't allow you to murder my friend!" Shadow yelled out loud to everyone's surprise. A black reptilian creature, the form Shadow chose for this occasion, jumped right out of Nihlus's chest like a ghost and tackled Terra. Shadow gave off the same black mist that the armor gave off when it was disintegrating, but still pinned Terra to the ground and began to repeatedly strike his head. Only ten seconds later Shadow seemed to tire and faded back into Nihlus's body. Terra didn't get up, whether he was dead or unconscious was anyone's guess.

_'N-nihlus, b-buddy, c-can we g-go home now?'_

_'After one last task, my friend.'_ Nihlus answered as exhausted and wounded as Shadow. He made a small tentacle emerge from the palm of his hand and sent it to grab the jar with Aqua's heart in it. Once he held it in his arms he turned to the coffin and pressed a secret button that seemed identical to the rest of the coffin. The coffin opened Revealing a girl, Nihlus's age, with Blue hair that reached to her shoulders and eyes as blue as her hair. She was dressed in a tank top and a pair of blue jeans that screamed that their owner went outdoors all the time. Nihlus gently putting her heart back into her body. He then collapsed onto the ground, completely unconscious.

Aqua opened he eyes and sat up for the first time since Xemnas took her heart so long ago. She slowly looked around and when she saw the unconscious Nihlus bolted clean out of the coffin. "Nihlus, wake up!" she begged, tying to awaken her friend. Sora had a guilty expression on his face as he walked up to Aqua.

"Here, I'll help," Was all he said as he and Aqua worked together to lift Nihlus up. "This way," He said using his head to point in the direction of the gummi ship. Though Aqua had a bad feeling about it she complied, after all this guy did seem sincere in his desire to help.

No one said anything as they put the unconscious Nihlus and terra in the gummi ship. In fact the silence lasted well into the trip back to Radiant Garden.

* * *

Ok, not the best way to end a chapter, but it works for me. In hindsight I think I didn't quite do a good job of describing Nihlus's hair (or at least not the way I imagined it). It's more like my avatar's hair than Sora's or Cloud's. R&R please!


	8. Chapter 8: Aqua awakened

Notes: Finally another update! I'm on Christmas break now so I can get the chapters out quicker without having to worry about homework.

Disclaimer: I don't own kingdom hearts only the people and places I come up with.

* * *

"So that's what happened," Aqua said quietly to herself. When they got back to Radiant Garden they had put both Nihlus and Terra in Merlin's half of his house. They handcuffed Nihlus's left hand to the makeshift bunk he was laying on in order to prevent him from escaping through a dark door when he regained consciousness. Thankfully Aerith had been kind enough to attend to both Nihlus and Terra while everyone else explained to Aqua what heartless and nobodies were, their adventures, and why they were holding her friend prisoner. Kairi had just finished telling the story Nihlus had told her while she was in the castle on the World That Never Was. Aqua shook her head at the end of the story.

It was bad enough that she had been asleep for a year in that coffin, but the idea that Nihlus had become a dark champion was just too much. "Wait, Nihlus would never do anything like that." Aqua said stubbornly. "I mean, sure he's always had a bit of a bad temper, but he would never really hurt anyone."

"He tried to take Sora's heart and would have succeeded if we didn't stop him," Riku answered crossing his arms.

"Actually, Riku, he put it back in just before you tried to hit him," Sora trying to be truthful. Riku seemed surprised by this, but didn't actually say anything. Aerith took this opportunity to emerge from Merlin's half of the house.

"Aerith, how are they doing?" Kairi asked somewhat concerned. Aerith smiled kindly before she answered.

"Well, I had a hard time getting what's left of Terra's helmet off his head, but apart from some cuts and bruises he'll be fine."

"And Nihlus?" Aqua asked her concern evident. Aerith shook her head in response.

"I don't know. That armor of his just wont come off no matter what, it's like it has a life of it's own."

"It must be Shadow," Kairi said firmly. Everyone seemed surprised at this. They hadn't really considered Shadow to be a factor when they handcuffed Nihlus to the bunk. Aerith shrugged sadly.

"Well, I did manage to get a potion down his throat, but I'm not sure how much good it did." Their conversation was interrupted by Riku gasping and pointing behind Aerith. For behind her stood Nihlus with what appeared to be a key coming out of his right index finger, explaining how he got his left hand free of the handcuffs. Though Nihlus looked utterly exhausted, nobody took any chances and summoned their keyblades.

"WAIT, HOLD IT!" Aqua yelled stepping between the keyblade wielders and Nihlus. "I can't just let you kill my friend!"

"Aqua, please, get out of the way," Nihlus gasped out. "I just need to reclaim Ven's heart, and then we can get out of here." Aqua was somewhat torn between the two sides here. On one hand her best friend Nihlus was about to be killed by a group of strangers who, though they seemed nice enough, were still strangers. On the other hand, they said that Nihlus had become something called a dark champion and had some kind of entity bonded to him, not to mention the fact that when she last checked Nihlus had brown eyes. Of course she wouldn't let them hurt Nihlus and she wanted to hear Nihlus's side of the story, but there were more than a few questions that she needed answered.

Suddenly she grinned at an idea that popped into her head. It was simple and would allow her to take care of some personal business. "Uh, I need to get some shopping done!" She said grabbing Nihlus's arm and running through the door with him before anyone, even Nihlus, could react. Although she wasn't much of actor Aqua could sure run fast, which made sense considering that her, Ven, and Nihlus went on all kinds of outdoor adventures before the "incident" with Xemnas.

"Hey, wait!" Riku called out as he ran up to the door. He was too late however, since Aqua and Nihlus had already vanished into the crowds wondering the streets. "Damn, we lost them!"

"Don't worry, Riku, I have a feeling they'll be back before long," Aerith said as she walked past Riku and out of the house. Riku sighed in resignation and then took a seat to await Nihlus and Aqua's eventual return.

Roxas, who had up to this point been silent, suddenly cried out "Namine!" and teleported through a dark door, his destination unknown. There was little anyone could do about Roxas running off in his search for Namine so they tried to force the issue out of their minds.

* * *

Aqua and Nihlus were walking side by side through the markets of Radiant Garden. Though Nihlus wasn't exactly in top shape after the beating he received from Terra and technically Kairi, he did have enough strength to walk without falling down on the ground. After a short time walking Aqua opened her mouth to ask Nihlus the questions she'd had on her mind ever since she awoke from her sleep. "So, Nihlus, were they telling the truth when they said that you were leading heartless and were bonded to Shadow?" Nihlus hesitated for a few seconds before he answered.

"Yes, what they said is true, but Shadow and the heartless are not evil." Aqua didn't say anything as she and Nihlus kept wondering through the market district.

"Nihlus," Aqua said firmly, "I may not have half the amount of experience with light and darkness as you and Sora's group, but I can say this. Whether or not darkness is evil is up for debate, but I will trust you no matter how much darkness or light you let into your system." Nihlus was surprised by Aqua's words. Aqua was always something of a tomboy and preferred using her fists to solve problems. Such eloquent words seemed almost foreign coming from her mouth. In fact they both would have had the bruises to prove it if it wasn't for the fact that they had healed over the course of the year Nihlus spent training. Having an enhanced healing factor, courtesy of Shadow, also helped. (it's also how he woke up so soon.)

"So, what's your plan, exactly?" Nihlus asked out of the curiosity.

"Well, for starters I really was telling the truth when I said I needed to get some shopping done. Seriously, these clothes are a little tight after a year," Aqua said motioning to her clothing. Nihlus let out a groan. He hated shopping for clothes as much as any other guy, and besides people were starting to give him funny looks. It was times like these when he regretted having the heartless symbol on his armor. Thankfully Aqua had some munny stashed in the pocket of her blue jeans so she was able to actually buy some clothes that fit her. Her new outfit was basically the same as her old one, except for the fact that she had put on a jacket.

"How do I look? Ugly or drop dead gorgeous?" Aqua asked jokingly.

"You look fine," Nihlus answered. Aqua simply shrugged in response. That was as close to drop dead gorgeous as Nihlus would get. "Now that you have suitable clothes would you mind telling me what you intend to do?" Aqua crossed her arms in thought.

"Why can't you and Sora call a truce or something? They could help us get Ven back." Nihlus stood with his mouth open. The idea of a truce, even a temporary one, seemed twisted almost, and at the same time it was the most logical solution.

'_Nihlus, I hate to say it, but your girlfriend there does have a good point,'_ Shadow said mentally.

'_Shadow by "girlfriend" I take it you mean friend that's a girl, and as for the truce, I have to agree with you...this time.'_ Aqua began waving her hand in front of Nihlus's face when he seemingly zoned out. "Sorry, I was talking with Shadow, and we both think that your idea is a good one." Aqua raised her eyebrows at this.

"Think I can meet Shadow sometime?"

"Sure, just give him some time to recover from the wounds he suffered from the light, and you'll be able to meet him." Aqua sighed, slightly disappointed, but nevertheless cheered up almost instantly.

"Alright then, let's see what the keyblade wielders think about that truce of yours!" Aqua said grabbing Nihlus's arm and dragging him back toward Merlin's house.

_'Why do I get the feeling I'm going to regret this?'_ Nihlus thought as he was litterally dragged back towards his former captors.

* * *

Riku sighed in boredom. As much as not having to fight armies of heartless and/or nobodies appealed to him, he was going to die if he had to sit around any longer. "Come on, Riku. It could be a lot worse." Sora said with a stupid grin on his face. Kairi giggled behind Sora. This whole thing was a complete reversal of what happened on the gummi ship when they went to Disney Castle. (Remember in chapter 1?) Riku rolled his eyes at Sora and Kairi's antics, if he said anything Sora would just make some kind of come back and make him feel even worse. Riku just silently prayed that something, anything, would happen to cause some excitement. Suddenly Aqua and Nihlus busted through the door. "Would you mind letting go of my arm now?" Nihlus asked Aqua irritably.

"Oh, sure thing!" Aqua said as she released Nihlus, slightly embarrassed from not doing so sooner.

"Thank you," Nihlus said as he turned to face Riku, Sora, and Kairi "We wanted to ask you if…" Nihlus stopped in mid-sentence. He had no idea what their reaction would be. The fact that he was their enemy coupled with the fact that he was hardly a charismatic individual only served to feed his doubt.

"We were going to ask if you could call a truce and help resurrect Ven," Aqua said completing Nihlus's sentence. Riku, Sora, and Kairi were dumbstruck to say the least.

"We accept," Kairi said before Riku and Sora could react.

"WHAT!" the two keyblade wielders exclaimed at the same time. Kairi turned to face the two boys with her hands on her hips.

"Come on, what's the worst that can happen? They need out help."

"Kairi, with all due respect, I trust Nihlus about as far as I can throw him." Riku said.

"Riku has a point, Kairi." Sora said crossing his arms.

"What about Aqua? She seems nice enough, unless you think she's lying too…" At this Aqua angrily crossed her arms. Although she didn't say anything it was clear she was furious at the accusation of being called a liar, and judging from the way Nihlus was edging away from her she was not the kind of person you want to get angry. Sora sighed and put his hand on Kairi's shoulder.

"Alright, Kairi, you win."

"Um, Sora," Kairi said with a slight blush appearing on her face. Sora's eyes widened and he immediately removed his hand from her shoulder.

"Kairi! I, um, uh." Sora stuttered clearly embarrassed.

"So, we have a truce?" Nihlus asked sparing Sora from his embarrassment.

"Yeah, let's shake on it," Sora said as he extended his hand toward Nihlus. Nihlus tentatively reached out and shook Sora's outstretched hand. Although the three keyblade masters had agreed to help him and Aqua resurrect Ven, he wasn't so sure if the chaser would be so easy to get along with.

'_Nihlus, don't worry about the chaser! What could he possibly do right in front of these three that could kill us and by extension the darkness's last hope of balance?'_

_'…Shadow, I hope that's just another one of your sick jokes.'_

* * *

Alright, there's just one last thing I need to say in my author notes for this chapter, and it's quite serious…

MERRY CHRISTMAS! HOPE YOU LIKE MY PRESENT! (and have a happy new year!)


	9. Chapter 9: Ven's New Body

Notes: Well, not much to say this time. In this chapter you'll learn just how they get Ven back and why he looks just like Roxas…it's not the way you think though.

* * *

Sora, Kairi, and Riku all watched as Nihlus paced around the room while he held the jar that contained Ven's heart in his hands. He said that he was trying to come up with some way to resurrect him, but judging from his actions, wasn't having much luck. "So, King Mickey's a mouse?" Aqua asked as she walked next to the three keyblade masters, trying to start a conversation. Riku suddenly slapped his fore head and let out a loud groan.

"We forgot to tell the King about Nihlus!" he exclaimed. Sora and Kairi both copied Riku and slapped their foreheads as well, how could they have forgotten something that important? "Hang on, he's probably still at the castle with Donald and Goofy, I'll go tell him and hope he doesn't beat me to a bloody pulp," Riku said jokingly, though he was more than a little concerned about what Mickey's reaction was going to be. "Whatever you do, don't let your guard down," Riku warned as he went out the door. Although Kairi had strong armed him and Sora into the truce, it didn't mean he trusted Nihlus.

"Ok then, I'll just take that for a yes," Aqua said as she wondered back to Merlin's side of the house, where Nihlus happened to be pacing, effectively leaving Sora and Kairi alone.

"Hey, Sora, there's something I wanted to ask you," Kairi said in a slightly nervous tone.

"Huh? Oh, well, I'm listening!" Sora said in a typically cheerful manner.

"Do you think what Nihlus said about the dark being in danger is true? I just can't stand the thought that all we've done would be hurting anyone." Sora just stood there with his mouth open. He really didn't know how to answer Kairi's question. He looked over in Aqua's and Nihlus's direction to see that Aqua was reading a book she had picked off of Merlin's bookshelf and Nihlus was still pacing, apparently too wrapped up in his thoughts to notice what Sora and Kairi were talking about.

"I, uh, well," Sora stuttered as he tried to come up with an answer to Kairi's question. Suddenly he was hit by a burst of inspiration, the perfect answer just popped into his head. "Kairi, Riku thought he was doing the right thing when he tried to use darkness to save you," Sora answered referring to the time when Riku was Maleficent's apprentice. "He really did think he was doing the right thing, but he was really just being tricked. Maybe it's the same with Nihlus?" Kairi nodded and put her hand up to her chin in thought. Sora did have a point, was it possible that Shadow was manipulating Nihlus, or was it something even worse? Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard Shadow's voice yell "Fine if you're going to be like that Mr. Grumpy Pants!"

She and Sora quickly spun around to see Shadow emerging from Nihlus's body. "I apologize for his outburst," Nihlus said trying to be polite, which wasn't easy considering how annoyed he was at Shadow, who was sticking his tongue at him. Aqua nearly dropped the book she was reading when she saw Shadow. "Woah! Hey, are you Shadow?" she asked as she sat her book down. Shadow quickly spun around with a somewhat mischievous expression on his face. "Why yes I am! I take it your Nihlus's girlfriend?" he asked deliberately trying to annoy Nihlus even more. A slight blush was visible on her cheeks.

"W-what are talking about?" she asked while looking away from Shadow in an effort to hide her blush. The embarrassment in her voice only encouraged Shadow's antics.

"Oh, is that blush I see? Why are you embarrassed by an innocent que-?" Shadow was cut short when Nihlus grabbed the back of his neck.

"Shadow, it's one thing for you to mess with me, but don't even think of teasing Aqua, got it?" Nihlus demanded irritably as he tightened his grip.

"Alright, alright, you made your point," Sahdow replied as Nihlus released him. "Still, I haven't seen you that worked up over something in a long time, Nihlus," Shadow quickly added. If he couldn't tease Aqua then he would just have to do with Nihlus. Nihlus simply grumbled and moved to Merlin's side of the room, closing the sheet so no one could see him. He sat down on his bunk with his back facing the unconscious Terra, who was only about a meter away.

'Uh, what am I going to do? I can't make a body of darkness for Ven, that'll just turn him into a heartless. I need a body without a heart…wait, that's it!' At this Nihlus suddenly and quickly stood up, he had an infallible plan. "Hey, Sora, Kairi, do you happen to know where Roxas is?" he asked walking up to the curtain he had closed. He didn't notice that Terra was stirring behind him…

* * *

As Roxas walked out of the dark door he had used, he looked around at his surroundings. It only took him a few seconds to realize that he was at the mansion in the forest of Twilight Town. 'I wonder if I should visit Hayner, Pence, and Ollette?' he thought. He quickly discarded the idea, though. They wouldn't know who he was, and besides, he felt drawn to the mansion. He didn't understand it, it was almost instinctual, but he could feel it had something to do with Namine. He passed through the gates looking slowly from side to side, this place always gave him the creeps, but then, what else could be the result after the history he had with the place.

Not wanting to stay any longer than necessary, Roxas quickly entered the two large doors. The inside was just as Roxas remembered, it appeared abandoned but at the same time, everything was organized and surprisingly clean. It was unnaturally quiet as well, just as Roxas remembered. He silently climbed up the stairs and started walking towards the "white room" when he reached the top. 'I wonder what Sora's doing right now?' Roxas thought as he walked. He couldn't help but feel a little guilty over leaving so abruptly, but his drive to explore the mansion was simply too strong to resist. He slowly opened the door leading to the "white room" and then walked in. To his surprise he saw, of all people, Namine sitting at the table drawing on her sketchpad.

Roxas just stood there, dumbstruck. Namine didn't look up or even acknowledge Roxas's presence, she seemed too absorbed in her drawing to notice him. "Namine?" Roxas asked cautiously. Namine jerked, clearly startled. Her surprise was quickly replaced with joy upon seeing Roxas.

"Roxas!" she exclaimed as she got out of the chair she was sitting in. She then jogged up to Roxas with a smile on her face. "I glad you're here, Roxas."

"Uh thanks, Namine," Roxas replied. He hadn't quite expected anything like this. "I know this is kind of an awkward question, but how are you here?" Namine put her hand on her chin in thought.

"Well, the last thing I remember was Kairi being stuck in one of the doors of darkness and then I woke up here." To Roxas it made sense. He was separated from Sora when Nihlus almost took his heart, and the same had happened to Kairi before Nihlus intervened at the last second.

"Namine, I need your help. I've been having trouble remembering everything, can you help me?" Roxas asked. Namine tilted her head sideways in confusion.

"That's strange, I remember everything, it might be because I can manipulate memories though." Roxas nodded his head in response, it did seem logical. "Actually, Roxas, I need your help too," Namine said as she looked down at her sketch pad, "Does this seem familiar to you?" At this she passed it to Roxas so he could look at it. The moment Roxas looked down at it his eyes widened. The picture Namine had drawn had what appeared to be an upgraded version of the form Nihlus he had taken when he killed Xemnas in the keyblade graveyard in a deadlock with another, similar figure. "Nihlus" ,if it really was him in the picture, had his trademark tentacles coming out of his back, a dragon head shaped helmet, and black plate armor that was clawed and seemed to be more like skin than armor.

What surprised Roxas, though, was the enemy that "Nihlus" was battling with. It was the complete opposite of him. It was wearing a suit of smooth white armor and had a helmet that was reminiscent of a medieval knight's. The most shocking thing twist was that it appeared to be wielding both Sora and Kairi's keyblades in each hand, and had a claymore sized version of Riku's keyblade strapped across it's back. The two titans seemed to be fighting in front of a large door, not unlike the one that led to kingdom hearts. Finally, there were several smaller figures in the background, but they were too small to make out.

"Namine, why did you draw this?" Roxas asked, he didn't know if it was a vision or simply dumb luck. She shook her head sadly from side to side in response.

"I just started drawing and I felt…inspired somehow." Roxas didn't know what to say to that but he had already made his decision.

"They need to see this," he said with finality, referring to Sora, Riku, and Kairi. Roxas then opened yet another dark door and handed Namine her sketchpad back. She smiled back at him and then went through the door behind him.

* * *

"Hey, Kairi, are you up for a little sparing match?" Aqua asked as she walked up to Kairi. Before she could respond she and Sora heard Nihlus yell "What the he-!" and then saw him fly through the curtain he had closed earlier.

"Nihlus!" Aqua and Shadow yelled at the same time. (Shadow had yet to stop romping around in his physical form) A battered looking Terra emerged from behind the now ruined curtains. Since he didn't have his keyblade in hand it was safe to assume he had sucker punched Nihlus.

"Why you bastard son of a prostitute!" Shadow yelled as he ran over to Nihlus, who was still on the ground stunned from being punched by a guy wearing metal gauntlets. "Don't interfere!" he ordered, addressing Sora, Kairi, and Aqua. He then walked over to Nihlus and faded back into him. Suddenly Nihlu's eyes became completely like a heartless's, just glowing yellow orbs. Then he rather clumsily got up.

"Gah, I'll never understand how you live in this thing!" "Nihlus" said. Apparently, Shadow had completey possessed Nihlus's body. He moved toward Terra in a rather crude way, he almost tripped every time he took a step. "Screw this!" he said in frustration, he knew he couldn't win like this, and besides Terra was summoning his keyblade while he was trying to avoid tripping. Instead, a large number of tentacles emerged from Nihlus's chest. They appeared noticeably weaker and thiner than all the others Nihlus and Shadow had summoned in the past. Nevertheless when they all struck at once, Terra was only able to block one or two before he was overwhelmed by the sheer number of tentacles. Two darted past his keyblade and wrapped around his arms while all the others grabbed the keyblade by it's "blade" therefore immobilizing it.

"Ugh, Nihlus, I don't feel so good, I think I overexerted myself before my injuries healed," Shadow said as Nihlus's body began to sway from side to side. Suddenly the tentacles retracted and Shadow/Nihlus sank to the floor. When Nihlus got up his eyes were back to normal, signifying that Shadow had stepped down. Terra seemed like he was about to attack, suddenly Aqua yelled out "Fira!" and sent a small fireball his way, no doubt a result of reading one of Merlin's spell books. Terra managed to block it with his keyblade, but before he could do anything more Sora and Kairi stepped between him and Nihlus.

"Terra, don't, we called a truce!" Kairi quickly explained. Terra seemed at a loss for words.

"You can't be serious," was all he said before Roxas and Namine came into the room through a dark door.

"Guys, you might need to see this," Roxas said motioning for Namine to show everyone her drawing. Everyone, even Terra crowded around to see what Roxas thought was so important. They were all surprised to say the least.

"That can't be us!" Shadow declared out loud "Do you have any idea how much emotion it takes to turn into that?" Terra suddenly began to walk briskly toward the door.

"Terra, where are you going?" Sora asked as he ran up behind the chaser.

"The King must know about this," came his rather cryptic reply. He didn't give Sora a chance to ask any more questions as he left the house, apparently something about Namine's drawing had struck a cord within him.

"Terra's not telling us something," Kairi said, voicing everyone's thoughts.

"I'm not too surprised about that, but I have more pressing issues than a lying chaser," Nihlus said as he turned to face Roxas. "Roxas, I've come up with an idea to resurrect my friend, but I'm going to need your help." The nobody had a confused expression on his face but nevertheless seemed willing to help Nihlus, after all he did owe him for giving him the documents that helped him to regain his memories.

"Alright, what do you need me to do?"

"I have Ven's heart here," Nihlus said holding up the jar with Ven's heart in it, "My idea is that if I put it in you, and then take it out again, a nobody will be made that I can insert the heart into. If it works, Ven will effectively have a new body."

"So you're trying to make a nobody of a nobody?" Sora asked. Nihlus nodded at him in response.

"Will it hurt Roxas?" Namine asked concernedly.

"It shouldn't, Roxas doesn't have a heart and it's not even his heart that he's losing."

"Alright, let's do this," Roxas said with a determined expression on his face. Nihlus wordlessly took the heart out of the jar and turned the hand that held it into a heartless claw. He then jammed it into Roxas's chest. The experience was similar to how Sora felt when Nihlus almost took his heart out. It only lasted for a brief second, though, as he almost immediately removed it. The heart began to glow and then a bright flash temporarily blinded everyone in the room.

"Nihlus, Aqua, is that you?" everyone heard a new voice calling out. When they could see again everyone, even Nihlus and Aqua's jaws nearly hit the floor. Next to Roxas was standing someone who looked exactly like, well, Roxas.

"Ven?" Aqua asked cautiously.

"Yeah, it's me. Who were you expecting, Uncle Ale?" There was only one way to tell the difference between Ven and Roxas, apart from their personalities. While Roxas was still dressed in his organization coat, Ven was wearing a copy of Roxas's Twilight Town outfit.

"Nihlus, I think we have a problem," Aqua said staring at Ven, "A very, very big problem.

* * *

And now you know why Ven looks like Roxas. As for Namine's drwawing…it is foreshadowing the future, but the question is whether or not it's actually Nihlus in the picture and if it is why and who/what is he fighting? Then there's also the question of whether or not Nihlus is correct when he said that the dark was in danger or if he's just being manipulated by someone VERY close to him… R&R please, and don't PM me about whether or not Nihlus's idea would really work, I still have to put up with school you know.


	10. Chapter 10: A New Voyage

Notes: Alright for those of you who are really want Sora, Kairi, and anyone else who is part of the main cast in the first two Kingdom Hearts games, I'm sorry. I realize I've been focusing on Nihlus and the chasers a bit too much, thereby not fulfilling my promise of Sora and Kairi romance. Naturally I'm going to correct that here and now. On a side note, I do intend to make some Roxas and Namine stuff for those of you who like to see them together, I just didn't add them to the summery to avoid spoilers, and the fact that I'm out of room helps too.

Also I'd like to thank Mooncry, Namilaa, serenitysoldier97, Shire Folk, and iMandy for reviewing. If it wasn't for you guys, I doubt I would have written up to this point. Yeah, sorry I forgot to do this earlier.

Disclaimer: I own nothing except any characters or places I make up.

Me: Alright Nihlus, I swear I'll find someway to make you do the next disclaimer.

Nihlus: Whatever, right now I think you and I need to have a little chat about Namine's drawing…

Me: (gulps loudly) Uh, um, you didn't find out about the stuff I was going to do for the grand finale, did you?

Nihlus: Yes I did, and I'm curious about this "Keyblade Master Xehanort" you're putting in here…

* * *

"Uh, guys," Ven started, clearly confused by the looks he was getting, "why are you looking at me like that, and who are these guys?" Everyone quickly exchanged glances at Ven's questions. "Wait, Nihlus, I don't remember you having gold colored eyes or fancy armor either," Ven continued as he walked up to his friend. "Would someone please tell me what I missed?"

"Maybe this will help," Namine said with her usual politeness as she handed Ven a mirror she had found lying around. Ven quickly looked at the mirror with curiosity. It only took a few seconds for his curiosity to change to horror.

"OH MY GOD, I'M UGLY NOW!" Ven screamed, dropping the mirror in the process.

"Excuse me?" Roxas said with more than a slight hint of anger in his voice. Roxas always did have a quick temper, and that was never going to change.

"Well, I think you look rather handsome," Namine said with a mischievous grin on her face. Ven quickly spun around with a grin as stupid as anything Sora could possibly muster. Meanwhile Roxas had actually caught on to the intent behind Namine's statement and spun away from everyone else in an attempt to hide his visible blush. (Ven and Roxas now look the same so…)

"Why thank you!" Ven exclaimed happily, "I think your kinda cute yourself, would you do me the honor of telling me your n-!" Ven was abruptly cut off by Aqua punching him in the back of the head.

"I can't believe you, Ven!" Aqua yelled in outrage "the first thing you do after your resurrection is flirt with someone you don't even know!" At this everyone, minus Nihlus, had anime sweat drops coming out of the back of their heads. It was pretty obvious this wasn't the first time Ven had pulled a stunt like this.

"Gee whiz!" Ven exclaimed as he rubbed the back of his head where Aqua had punched him, "All I do is compliment someone and you try to scramble my brain! By the way, what did you do after you got "resurrected", kiss Nihlus?" At this both Nihlus and Aqua began yelling all kinds of things at Ven, completely ignoring the looks Sora, Kairi, Roxas, and Namine were giving them.

"Wow, they're worse than you and Riku ever were!" Kairi commented as she recalled the rivalry Riku and Sora had before the Destiny islands were attacked by heartless. The rivalry didn't just include how well they could sword fight or race, it included about everything two hyper children could possibly come up with. Kairi let out a small giggle as some of the more embarrassing moments sprang to her mind…

"Yeah, my and Riku were pr- HEY!" Sora suddenly yelled as he realized what Kairi had said. "Alright, what's so funny?" Sora asked sighing. There was no telling just which of the countless embarrassing, and blackmail worthy, memories Kairi was recalling.

"I was just thinking of the time that you and Riku got lost and…" Kairi abruptly began to trail off mid-sentence. "Sora, we forgot to tell you and Riku's parents that we were leaving!" Sora immediately slapped himself in the head at the realization of his grave mistake. "Well, we all did go adventuring for a few days at a time; maybe they'll just think that we're just exploring the island?" Sora had to agree with Kairi's logic.

"Phew, you nearly gave me a heart attack there, Kairi!" Sora exclaimed with his usual optimism. "I don't know what I'd do without you!" Kairi simply chuckled nervously in response. "Wha-. OH, I mean, uh, well, I mean I don't know what would happen if you weren't with me!" Sora's face was colored a brught, and very visible, scarlet once he realized just how he sounded. His only saving grace was the fact that Aqua Ven, and Nihlus were too busy arguing to notice, and Roxas and Namine would never intentionally embarrass him or Kairi, having once been part of them and all.

"So stop being stupid!" Aqua yelled out, loud enough for all to here.

"Y-yeah, Ven, your "jokes" can get pretty annoying," Nihlus said still somewhat shaken by Ven's comment about Aqua and him.

"Alright, alright, I get it," Ven answered throwing his hands into the air in mock defeat. "You have to admit, though, you two did get pretty worked up over one innocent little comment…or was it not so innocent?" Ven was grinned mischievously by the end of his question.

"JUST SHUT UP!" Aqua and Ven yelled at the same time. Usually Ven's "jokes" were pranks that he got Nihlus and Aqua to help him with. In fact, almost all of their adventures that didn't involve exploring caves or something were just helping Ven to pull off his latest, and greatest, prank.

"Alright, I'll leave you two in peace, but would you mind explaining what the hell happened back at that abandoned cathedral we were exploring? The last thing I remember is those two hooded guys activating that weird machine in that castle."

At this, everyone let out a loud, collective, groan. "Am I the only person who ever gets tired of having to tell my entire life story?" Shadow asked aloud, causing Ven to jump out of surprise. (Shadow was still "in" Nihlus when he said that)

Terra walked through the streets of Radiant Garden ignoring the looks all the passer bys were giving him. Although warriors in armor with strange swords were pretty common on that particular world, Terra was a bit of an exception. Unlike most of the other warriors (i.e. Final Fantasy characters) his armor was in relatively poor condition. It looked like it had been pummeled by an adrenaline crazed maniac, which was relatively accurate since it was Shadow who had done the damage.

'_That parasite is manipulating that boy_,' Terra thought bitterly to himself as he walked toward the castle. '_Nihlus is goodhearted, if a little quick tempered, that thing_, _though, is up to something_.' Terra was extremely disturbed, to say the least, about Shadow's intentions. On one hand it seemed as if it/he really did care a great deal about Nihlus's well-being, and not just out of a sense of self-preservation. On the other hand, countless people before Nihlus had been tricked into trying to spread darkness across the worlds, Riku was a perfect example. 'There's something different about him, though, how could he have gotten so strong so fast?' Terra's mental question was a good one. During his travels he had come across a few records regarding the dark champions of old. According to what they said about the dark champions, Nihlus was on par with champions that had trained for years to accomplish what Nihlus had apparently mastered in a scant year and a half. Granted, the records were limited and said nothing of the most powerful of the champions, namely the one that slaughtered almost all the chasers, but it was enough to make Terra realize that Nihlus and Shadow were much more than they appeared to be.

Shaking his head, he resolved that the best thing to do would be to alert King Mickey about Namine's drawing.

"Nothing good will come of this…" he said quietly to himself as he made his way to the castle.

"…And that's when I came here to tell everything," Riku said, finally finishing his explanation of all that transpired back at Merlin's house. Mickey was taking it surprisingly well, especially considering that Riku had just burst in and interrupted him, Donald and, Goofy from trying to find out what Nihlus was looking for when he first came to Radiant Garden.

"Gwarsh, are ya' sure that leaving him with Sora's a good idea?" Goofy asked worriedly, as he moved his hand up to his mouth in concern. Suddenly Donald began to panic.

"Wait, if he called the truce to save Aqua and Ven that means could turn on Sora at any moment, we've got to go now!" Donald yelled as he drew his staff. He then began to recklessly charge through the door, Rambo style, only to run straight into a rather surprised Terra. Before he could do anything else reckless, Riku and Goofy grabbed him by his arms and dragged him back away from the door, with him struggling and yelling "Let me go!" all the way.

"We need to talk…alone" Terra declared, though not unkindly, as he glanced at Donald, Goofy, and Riku. Mickey tilted his head in confusion, but nevertheless told Riku, Danald, and Goofy that they would just have to talk later. With no other choice the three left the room, shutting the door behind them. They then immediately piled against it in an attempt to here Mickey and Terra's conversation.

"Terra, what could be so important that you couldn't trust Riku, Donald, and Goofy?"

"That nobody, Namine, drew a picture with the door of the light realm and two armored creatures fighting. One was aligned with light and wielded the three keyblade masters' keyblades, while the other resembled one of the dark champion's transformations." The news was a shock, to put it mildly, to Mickey.

"WHAT!" he yelled, losing his normally calm composure for a moment. After taking a moment to calm down he added "How's that possible?" Terra shook his head in reply.

"I don't know, but I think I know how to find out," he said as he moved towards the door. "I was about to explore several now-ruined chaser strongholds before you contacted me. I found some records on the dark champions in the one you found me in, perhaps the others will have something in them that will help explain everything."

"I see…so where are you going, I'll come with you."

"I'm going to the world known as Halloween Town, and don't bother coming with us…the ship will be quite crowded even without you," Terra said as a small grin materialized on his face. Apparently, even he had a sense of humor.

"Besides, if that parasite that has infected that boy somehow kills me…you will need to tell the keyblade masters everything…"

Meanwhile in an unknown location, three figures clothed in grey, hooded, robes sat around a circular table with what appeared to be a hologram generator in it's center. An image of the interior of Merlin's hous, complete with Sora, Kairi, Ven, Aqua, and Nihlus talking was displayed. "It would appear that your attempts to manipulate into Namine drawing the avatars dueling were a success," one of the figures said in a calculating voice. It was clear that he was the leader of the leader of the group. The figure to the left of the speaker simply nodded quietly in response.

"I don't see why we have to bother with all this scheming and plotting!" the figure to the right exclaimed. "Seriously, while we sit around here, the dark champion and the keyblade masters are only getting stronger. We can kill them easily, why don't we just swoop in and kill them already?"

The leader simply sighed and replied "Have you no patience? Why should we reveal ourselves when we can manipulate them into killing each other?" The silent figure on the left shifted uncomfortably in it's chair upon the mention of killing.

"What's a matter, Kinjex, uncomfortable with a little death?" The figure to the right asked tauntingly.

"…It's wrong…" was all the previously silent figure said in reply.

"Rombax, stop tormenting him!" the leader demanded. Rombax simply grumbled to himself, but nevertheless obeyed. "I know how you feel about this, Kinjex," the leader said in a calm voice "but by killing them, we will be saving more lives than have ever existed in the history of the universe."

The silent Kinjex did seem to take comfort in this, but looked from under the hood that concealed his features at the hologram. More specifically he was looking at Sora and Kairi. "…They're innocent…have full lives to live…" he spoke mournfully to himself. The leader sighed, he had complete trust in Kinjex but there was no way he would be able to truly ease the pain of his guilt.

"That is all…unless, of course, either of you have an issue you would like to raise for discussion?" Kinjex shook his head from side to side in response.

"Well, I sure as hell do!" Rombax said crossing his arms. "If we're in our secret base where nobody can see us, why do we have to where these hoods over our faces, it's pointless and overly dramatic!"

* * *

Phew, that was a long chapter, hope it keeps you busy for a while! Anyway…I find the lack of reviews/reviwers…disturbing. It either means that a lot of you are lazy bums OR that my first few chapters were so bad and uninteresting that they actually drive people away BEFORE they get to the good stuff. (if you think the recent chapters qualify as good stuff)

That said, do you guys think I should try rewriting the first few chapters? (yeah, there's no way anyone would be too lazy to take a few minutes to say "nice work" or "you suck as a writer".


	11. Chapter 11:Are we there yet?

* * *

Notes: Well, that wasn't quite the reaction I thought I'd get from that lazy bum comment…

Seriously, I was thinking more along the lines of an e-mail account full of flames. Maybe I should have said that earlier?

Me: Alright, Nihlus, say it!

Nihlus: …It

Me: Very funny…you're hilarious.

Nihlus: No, that's Shadow's job. If you're trying to make this conversation funny get him in here.

Me: Whatever, just say the disclaimer or I'll keep doing this to you for the rest of the story.

Nihlus: (sighs) Fine. My "boss" here (meaning Blackrogue123 and not me) doesn't own anything or anyone but the stuff he comes up with…which, sadly, includes me.

Me: Now that wasn't so hard, was it?

Nihlus: Why can't you just annoy Sora and Kairi or something?

Me: I will…eventually, but stop whining. I know exactly how I can embarrass you in front of all of my readers…

Nihlus: Don't even think about!

Me: Too late! I already did!

* * *

Riku, Donald and Goofy all quickly jerked back from the door as they heard Terra turn around. Riku leaned against the wall while Donald and Goofy tried to look as though they had been talking to each other, all in an effort to make sure that neither Terra nor the king would suspect that they had been listening. They hadn't actually been able to hear the conversation between Terra and Mickey, but they were able to tell that it was very important and that they were being left out of the loop. Riku watched as Terra walked through the door and gave a mental sigh of relief when he showed no signs of realizing what Riku, Donald, and Goofy had done. "I apologize for the secrecy, but it was…necessary,"

"Sure…" Riku answered in a tone that clearly showed his irritation at being left in the dark.

"We're going to Halloween Town; I need to recover several artifacts that may prove to be instrumental in eliminating the threat Nihlus poses to the worlds."

"WHAT!" Donald and Goofy exclaimed. "You aren't trying to kill him, are ya'?" Goofy asked concernedly. Although he wasn't exactly fond of Nihlus, he had tried to take Sora's heart after all, he did think that killing him was drastic and morally wrong. Terra shook his head.

"No, believe it's the creature that had bonded itself to him is the real threat. I don't know much about the nature of their bond, or the dark champions themselves for that matter, but the ruins I intend to search may hold the answers we need." Riku crossed his arms in thought when Terra finished his reply. He had to admit he did feel kind of sorry for Nihlus, not enough to really like him but enough to make him not want to kill the dark champion on sight.

"Great, so, what do we do with Nihlus, Ven, and Aqua in the mean time?" Terra mentally braced himself for the outraged reply he knew would come about from his answer.

"I intend to bring them with us." Terra winced as he was met with a barrage of "WHAT!", "ARE YOU CRAZY?!", and "THAT'S STUPID!". "Yes, I know it's possible that he may try to kill Sora or turn him into a heartless, but we may as well try to keep an eye on him, if only to prevent him from ambushing Sora."

Riku huffed loudly, but didn't say anything. Although he was certain that they were all more than a match for Nihlus in a stand up fight, Nihlus had proved that he was full of surprises. The first two battles proved it, he had surprised them and nearly tore them apart in both. "Fine, but if anyone gets hurt…" Riku warned Terra angrily. The adaptability of Nihlus's powers would make it extremely difficult to predict what he was going to do next in a fight.

"I swear, I will do all I can to protect your friends," Terra answered solemnly. Whenever Terra made a promise he would sooner die than not fulfill it. "For now, we have more pressing issues. Donald and Goofy, do you intend to come with us? We may need to blend in with the locals, and I am not sure if we will be able to make Halloween costumes without the use of your magic, Donald." Donald and Goofy exchanged looks, first with each other and then with Riku.

"Gwarsh, I'm not sure," Goofy said uncertainly, "what if the king needs us?"

"Yeah, we can't just leave the king!" Donald exclaimed, agreeing with Goofy. "Maybe I could just give you guys Halloween costumes before you leave?" Terra nodded his head in acceptance of Donald's idea. "Then what are we waiting here for, let's go!" Riku, Terra, and Goofy simply shrugged and followed the enthusiastic magician as he led them back to Merlin's house.

* * *

"Oh, well that explains a lot!" Ven commented at the end Sora and Nihlus's combined explanation of basically everything that had happened up until the present moment. "Great, so now that we have all that sorted out, what's next?" An uncomfortable and rather awkward silence fell over the entire group.

"Well, I suppose we have to fix the whole "imbalance" problem now," Shadow said aloud for all to hear. Almost immediately Kairi's keyblade, followed closely by Sora's, was placed against a rather surprised Nihlus's neck. "Holy kingdom hearts, batman!" Shadow exclaimed at the treatment Nihlus was receiving because of his offhand comment.

"Don't even think about!" Kairi hissed as she pressed her keyblade even harder against Nihlus's neck, ignoring his clear discomfort at the keyblade's mere touch.

'_Shadow…_' Nihlus telepathically said in a dangerous tone. _'You better have a way to get me out of this mess…one that won't involve hurting anyone or summoning heartless."_

_'Alright, alright, I'm sorry!'_ came Shadow's apologetic reply. '_I was just trying to be honest with them! Sheesh, I though they were supposed to have a sense of honor!'_

Meanwhile, Aqua and Ven had stepped up beside Nihlus in an attempt to protect him, while Roxas and Namine watched the spectacle, neither of them was sure just who's side to pick. "Hey, you can't just go around threatening our friend like that!" Ven huffed, "he may be a pain in the rear at time, but he's OUR pain in the rear!"

"Oh thanks a lot, Ven," Nihlus commented sarcastically, "You have no idea how good it feels to know that after I was nearly killed by a chaser, my friends consider me a pain in the a-."

"Look, we just want to go back home, right guys?" Aqua asked, conveniently interrupting Nihlus before he could finish his remark. Suddenly, Nihlus's eyes widened noticeably.

"W-what, go back?" he asked taking a subconscious step away from Sora and Kairi, who in turn simply removed their keyblades from his neck and instead pointed them at him, their guards still up. "I-I can't just go back!" Nihlus exclaimed. His tone of voice was impossible to read, no one could tell whether he was scared, angry, or both.

A "Huh?" escaped Aqua's lips as she turned to face Nihlus directly. "Nihlus, why don't you want to go home?" Suddenly all the emotions Nihlus had been suppressing, up until now, seemed to explode out of him.

"Why don't I want to go home?!" he asked, with a hint of mockery, "I'll tell you why, it's because of this!" he exclaimed turning his right hand into a heartless claw. "And this, and this, and this!" he continued, practically yelling. His trademark tentacles burst from his back while both arms began to become covered in darkness. Also, the boots he wore to complement his armor suddenly developed claws at their toes as well. His display caused everyone to jump back away from him, Aqua, Ven, Roxas, and Namine did so out of shock, as they had never actually seen Nihlus's power in action, while Sora and Kairi did so to prepare for a battle. "I'm not like them," Nihlus said bitterly, pointing to Sora and Kairi, "I can't just come out of the blue after a year and say "Hey everyone, I can make weapons out of thin air and order the creatures that have been trying to take your hearts for the last two centuries!". Nihlus's eyes were glowing noticeably at his rampant display of all his suppressed emotions. "They…they can hide their powers," Nihlus continued, finally calming down, "But I can't. Shadow and I are bonded for life; it would only take one lost temper…"

Nihlus let his point hang in the air as he moved back against the wall in an attempt to steady himself, he seemed about to cry. Sora and Kairi exchanged looks and then unsumonned their keyblades. Although, they knew that Nihlus got more powerful as his emotions got more intense, he looked about as threatening as a shadow heartless that had been beaten to within an inch of it's life by Sephiroth. (A/N talk about overkill, eh?)

"I…never thought about what I would do if I ever managed to restore the balance and saved you two," he said addressing Aqua and Ven, as he sank to the ground. "Heh, I wonder how they would react if they ever saw this?" Nihlus asked himself as one of the tentacles he had grown out of his back lowered itself to his eyelevel.

"Nihlus, I…" Ven started, only to stop, for he had no idea what words could comfort his friend. He too had shared Aqua's idea of just going home and returning to how things were back before they were kidnapped, but now he saw that it would be far harder than he and Aqua had originally thought it was going to be. After all, having golden eyes and a symbiotic relationship with a being of darkness was one thing, growing tentacles and claws was a completely different matter all together. Nihlus simply took a deep breathe and allowed all the things he had summoned to retract back into his body once more.

"I'm…alright now," he said as he got up, "I'm sorry for laying all my problems out in front of you, I just…have trouble containing my emotions sometimes." Roxas raised an eyebrow and muttered a sarcastic remark too low for anyone but Namine to hear since she was standing right next to him. Namine immediately elbowed him in the side and began to hiss something to Roxas. Ignoring the squabble their nobodies were having, Sora and Kairi turned to face each other.

"You know, Nihlus did raise a good point," Sora admitted, "What do you think would happen if we told our parents about everything that's happened?" Kairi looked down in thought. The whole "master(s) of the keyblade(s)" thing was a somewhat controversial issue between her, Sora, and Riku. While they all felt bad about leaving their families out in the dark, there was simply no way to tell how they would react.

"I really don't know, Sora,"

"Hm, I guess we'll never know…" Sora said reluctantly. As much as he wanted to come clean, telling his parents that he had been running around saving the worlds was probably not a good idea. Suddenly the door opened breaking up any more thoughts on what had just transpired. Through the door came Donald, Goofy, Riku and Terra..

"Hiya, everyone!" Goofy exclaimed with his usual cheerfulness, "We're going to Halloween town!" At this everyone snapped to attention.

"Yes, there are several ruins, located on various worlds, that I believe may hold the answer to this whole…predicament," Terra said, using predicament for lack of better word.

"Wait, do you mean a way to restore the balance that won't involve killing Sora?" Nihlus asked anxiously. Regardless of what the others thought about him, he really didn't want to hurt Sora, or anyone else who didn't have it coming for that matter.

Terra turned to face Nihlus before he answered. "Yes, if I can find what I'm looking for, no one will die." Despite the absurdity of the idea, Nihlus was actually filled with happiness at the idea of being around a group of keyblade wielders who could take him down in a heartbeat if they wanted to.

"What are we waiting for let's go!" he cried out eagerly, heading for the door. Donald raised his hand in order to block Nihlus from running out before everyone else.

"Wait, you can't go there like that!" the magician yelled, "You need to be in a Halloween costume, or you'll look like a freak there!" Nihlus rolled his eyes and transformed his armor into what resembled a grim reaper costume. It was basically a black coat that looked old and worn with hood that hid all of Nihlus's features except for his now-glowing eyes. The transformation startled Roxas and Namine so much that they stopped arguing over whether or not Roxas's remark was called for. Nihlus then shot Donald a look that said "happy now?" from underneath his hood.

"Ah, well I'll just get everyone else's costumes ready!"

* * *

Meanwhile, in an as of yet unknown location…

Rombax grunted as the twilight thorn he had been training with fell to the ground utterly spent. "Come one, I was just getting warmed up!" he demanded. The only response he got was the twilight thorn fading away in order to recover from it's injuries. "Damn thing can't take hit!" Rombax then proceeded to stomp around the arena like room he was in, in order to vent his frustration. "Why can't I ever find someone worth fighting!" he yelled to himself, throwing his fists into the air. Rombax still wore the same gray robe with the hood that concealed his feature, however when he threw his fists into the air a pair of clawed metal gauntlets with runes on them became visible. "The only guys I can think of are Kinjex and-!"

Before Rombax could finish his statement, and reveal what his leader's name was, he was suddenly cut off by a familiar voice. "If you're looking for a worthy opponent, why don't you go look for Xamic?" Rombax spun around to see his leader, flanked by Kinjex.

"Are you insane?! It takes weeks to find that guy and he...whatever he is, he's not human. Nothing as strong as him could be possibly human." The leader raised his eyebrows underneath his hood.

"Yes, if I recall correctly he beat you to within an inch of your life with just a small fraction of his strength." Rombax growled with indignation, though he knew that his leader was correct. Xamic was unlike any nobody that he had ever met. He seemed to just drift from world to world searching for something or someone, and despite the fact that he had enough raw power to accomplish basically anything, he didn't seem to have any inclination to use it except when someone tried to attack him.

"That guy had more issues than that Nihlus kid," Rambox stated as he stubbornly crossed his arms.

"Indeed…but Kinjex and I did not come here to talk about him." At this the leader made a hand gesture at Kinjex. The silent nobody nodded and pulled out a prism shaped crystal from underneath his robe. It was roughly the size of his entire hand. He seemed to concentrate for a few moments before an image of what appeared to be a fort made out of stone appeared on it. It overlooked an ocean and had cannons lining it walls. Also, soldiers in red jackets holding muskets seemed to be patrolling it's walls. "This world is called Port Royal," The leader explained as Rombax looked at the crystal.

"Yeah so? I thought you said that we were going to try to find some new members while the keyblade masters were busy falling into your trap? Seriously we could use some new blood around here. It's just you, me, and Kinjex!"

At this Kinjex's head seemed to jerk up. "…Reniex…" Rombax tilted his head sideways in confusion before he caught on to Kinjex's meaning.

"What? She doesn't count; she doesn't even look like a human!" Kinjex didn't seem to take Rombax's dismissal of Reniex very well as his left hand suddenly seemed to catch on fire while his right hand began to cackle with electricity. "Oh, I am so going to enjoy this!" Rombax said as he took a battle stance. Kinjex's crystal floated behind him while the runes on Rombax's gauntlets began to glow red. Suddenly a katana was thrust in between the two before they could actually clash.

"Enough bickering!" the leader barked, prompting both Kinjex and Rombax to back down. "Rombax, you shouldn't discount nobodies who can't take human form! Kinjex, you must be more tolerant of Rombax's opinions!" Rombax let out a "hmph" while Kinjex simply nodded. "Now, as Kinjex here already knows, I sent Reniex to ascertain the validity of several very interesting rumors I heard when I last visited that world. Apparently there's an immortal nobody there by the name of Davy Jones…

* * *

"Great, so what now?" Ven asked as he crossed his arms. They had finally managed to get underway after getting their costumes taken care of. Kairi was dressed in a black witch costume that had an oversized hat, Ven was wearing a bizarre zombie-pirate outfit that reminded Sora of a pirate-heartless, Sora was in his normal Halloween outfit, a vampire with a pumpkin eye patch-like thing over his left eye, Riku was dressed as a wraith wearing a black patchwork set of robes that proved surprisingly comfortable, and Aqua was dressed as a ghost that wore an organization-style cloak. (she nearly killed Donald when her first costume, a vampiress, had a skirt, which she said would make her look like a "sissy, wimpy, whiny, damsel in distress") Roxas and Namine, being Sora and Kairi's nobodies, were dressed as a vampire and witch respectively, however Roxas's costume was more realistic in the fact that it was simply the stereotypical vampire cape place over a T-shirt and shorts. Namine's costume was similar to Kairi's, however it was white instead of black.

As for Terra, they had just repaired the dents in his helmet and put it on, giving him the appearance of an undead knight. Right now, they were all on the bridge of the gummi ship that Nihlus had sent them when he was still trying to take Sora's heart. They had just finished storing their normal clothes away in the rather spacious cargo hold.

"Seriously, guys, I don't think any of us want to stand around here doing nothing for the entire trip!" Ven complained. He was met with a chorus of grunts of irritation.

"Ven, what is it with you?" Aqua exclaimed, irritated at her friend's impatience, "I don't want to sit around all day either, but you don't see me whining!" Ven muttered to himself but didn't make a smart remark back at Aqua; he knew that it would just get him a knock upside the head. He simply glanced around at what everyone else was doing. Sora and Kairi were talking about their adventures while Riku just seemed to listen, Terra was piloting the ship, Nihlus was standing in a corner by himself, not counting Shadow, and Namine seemed to be drawing while Roxas watched in curiosity.

"Say, Nihlus," Aqua said slyly, it was velar that an idea had just popped into her head.

"Yes, Aqua?" Nihlus replied nervously, although Aqua rarely came up with pranks or jokes, the time she did were rarely pleasant for anyone at the butt of them.

"Oh calm down would you!" she exclaimed as she picked up on Nihlus's nervousness "It's not anything bad! I was just wandering if, you know, since you spent year and a half training and all, if you could help me do some combat practice." Nihlus raised an eyebrow in surprise at Aqua's request, but quickly shook the stupid expression on his face off, and nodded in reply. "Great, let's go!" Aqua then dashed off enthusiastically toward the cargo hold, the only place on the ship big enough to have a mock battle. Nihlus, for once, actually grinned to himself.

_'Heh, with Aqua around, life's never boring!'_ he thought as he began to sprint in order to catch up to his blue-haired friend.

"You know, Sora, I could use some practice too," Kairi said with a grin "I have to get just as good as you and Riku!" Sora was somewhat surprised at Kairi's enthusiasm but quickly returned her grin and dashed off with her to join Nihlus and Aqua in training.

"Well, this should be worth seeing," Riku commented to himself as he began to walk in the direction of the now incredibly popular cargo hold. Roxas and Namine barely shot any of this a second glance as their attention was focused on Namine's drawing.

"I think it's coming along great!" Roxas exclaimed, complimenting Namine's drawing abilities.

"Oh, uh, thanks Roxas," she replied, a light blush appearing on her face, "I've been working on it really hard." Thankfully, for the sake of Namine's dignity, the angle Roxas tood at made it impossible for him to see her blush.

"Yeah, I'll bet! Hey, Terra, could you tell us when we get there?" Terra simply nodded in response to Raxos's request. It would be about an hour before they reached Halloween Town, so everyone would have time to do whatever it was that they needed to get done.

* * *

"So where's this Davy Jones guy supposed to be anyway?" Rombax asked as he, Kinjex and the leader walked down a forest path that would lead them to the fort that they had seen through Kinjex's crystal. Their ship was pure white and shaped like a V, with a cockpit that had more than enough room for the three nobodies at the base of the V. They had landed it in a clearing and activated it's cloaking device in order to keep their presence a secret. In addition, they had also come at night in order to minimize any potential contact with the locals that would most likely be inevitable.

"I don't know where his current location is," the leader admitted "However, for now, let's focus on meeting up with Reniex." Suddenly, the three heard a sound not unlike the wind rustling a few leaves.

"…Reniex…" Kinjex said to himself as he looked around somewhat eagerly, it was clear he was doing so from the movements of his hood. Out of seemingly nowhere, an unusual nobody landed in front of Kinjex, Rombax, and the as-of-yet unnamed leader. It actually had a distinctly feminine outline, wore a flexible and light looking suit of armor that resembled a knight's, and wore a helm that covered it's mouth and everything up from the fore head, leaving two blue, crystal like eyes exposed. It was one of the few nobodies that actually looked vaguely human.

"General…" Reniex said in a voice that sounded like the wind itself, as she made a bow of courtesy to the leader, who returned her bow with a nod.

"Reniex, I trust your aerial reconnaissance was very helpful, through Kinjex's crystal we were able to see the entire town." Reniex nodded at the leader's praise and then turned to Kinjex.

'_Kinjex…it's good to see you.'_ Reniex greeted, using Kinjex's unique ability, the ability to telepathically communicate and connect with any other nobody.

_'I'm happy to see you too, Reniex.'_ Kinjex always found it easier for him to talk with Reniex than anyone else he knew, including the General and Rombax.

"Hey, if you're going to have a conversation, at least do it out loud!" Rombax demanded irritably, he hated being left out of anything. Reniex and Kinjex exchanged one last look and then turned to their leader.

"Since we have no idea where this Davy Jones is, we will have to look around this world. I have heard that he tries to trick the dead and dying sailors into serving him, so we had best start there. We can use the ship's scanners in order to find a wrecked ship…or just find a ship and make it a wrecked ship for Davy Jones to visit…"

* * *

Well, it wasn't an action packed chapter, but I hope you like it! I promise the next two chapters will have action for all you action lovers! There are some issues I need your help with, though. Was I going overboard with Nihlus's outburst? My goal is to make him a dark and twisted version of Sora, not an overly emotional whiner. Secondly, I'm somewhat torn on what world to have Sora and co. visit next. Do you guys want to see my version of Pirates of the Caribbean 2 first, or do you want them to visit the world Nihlus, Aqua, and Ven came from? Either way, they wont be directly encountering the four nobodies anytime soon…


	12. Chapter 12: The Immortal

Notes: Okay, since only two of you people voted on where you wanted Sora and co. are supposed to head next, I had to flip a coin. As such, I have decided to pick Port Royal just for the heck of it. On a side note, I'd like to thank Mooncry for coming up with Rambox's original name (her idea is a lot cooler than the one I had!). Also, do any of you guys think that Nihlus is a "Mary Sue" (a character that is incredibly cliché, outrageously perfect, and steals the spotlight all the time)?

Me: Right, I don't feel like tormenting anyone right now, so I'll just do the disclaimer myself…even if it is a sign of the apocalypse. I don't own anything, only my OCs.

* * *

"Uh, your majesty, why are we going to see master Yen Sid?" Goofy asked as he tugged on the hood of the organization-style cloak that Mickey had insisted they all wore, so as not to startle any of the locals in Twilight Town. Cid had been kind enough to loan them a rather crude, but space worthy, gummi ship so they could actually get to Twilight Town.

"I needed to ask him something very important," Mickey cryptically replied as he led the way towards the train station that they could use to get to Yen Sid's tower. While it did hurt him a great deal to keep secrets from Donald and Goofy, arguably his closest friends, he knew that some of the secrets Terra and him were keeping were simply too dangerous to just go out and tell everyone on every single one of the worlds. Besides, Donald and Goofy would just accidentally blab it out, Donald on account of his temper and Goofy because of his rather trusting nature. In an attempt to shake his feelings of guilt out of his mind, Mickey began to listen to what the townspeople were saying as he, Donald and Goofy walked by. Most of it was a bunch of random chatter, a snippet or two into the personal lives of the citizens, but there was one thing that grabbed Mickey's attention.

While he had expected his shortness to raise a few eyebrows he heard several people comment about a "strange man". Whoever the stranger was, he had shaken up the town quite a bit. They seemed far more concerned about this stranger than three unusual looking figures in black robes. As curious as Mickey was, he knew there was no time to spare, so he quickly put these thoughts in the back of his head and continued onward.

It didn't take more than two minutes for the trio to reach the train station. However, just as they began to climb the steps a rather imposing man seemed to burst from the station. The man seemed to be an inch or two above the standard height, had blackish brownish hair that covered his left eye and reached about half way down his neck. The man wore a brown vampire-styled coat that seemed designed to conceal whatever the man was wearing underneath it. Mickey couldn't help but shudder at the sight of the stranger that the residents of Twilight Town had been talking about, for who else could he have been? There seemed to be something unnatural about him, his clothes made him look like a common weather-beaten traveler, but the man had an aura of sorts that said otherwise.

The man seemed to be aware of the discomfort his mere presence gave the surrounding people, but didn't seen to bother making an attempt to make himself look any less conspicuous. Mickey could see the man's visible blue, almost dead looking, eye lock on to him Donald and Goofy. He stared at them for several seconds before shifting his gaze away and resuming his walk. Despite the terrible sense of foreboding they got from the man, the trio marched up the steps, passing the man's left side as he too walked down the steps. Mickey took a hesitant glance sideways as they passed the stranger when he suddenly saw something that served to confirm his suspicions of the man. The tip of a claymore-like sword could be seen emerging from the bottom of the man's coat/cape. It would have been impossible to notice if it wasn't for Mickey's height. As soon as the man was out of ear shot Mickey whispered to Donald and Goofy "I don't like the looks of him. I need you to follow him and make sure he doesn't hurt anyone."

Donald and Goofy silently nodded and then moved to do as their king had ordered, this, for once, was an order they could fully understand the meaning of. Mickey gave one last, worried look at Donald and Goofy before he entered the train station. They were his best wizard and knight respectively; they would be able to take care of themselves. It only took the mouse-king a few brief seconds to spot the rather peculiar train that would take him to his former mentor's tower. It was the same as it had been the last time he used it, purple with stars lining the length of it. He never really did understand why none of the Twilight Town residents ever rode on the train and discover master Yen Sid's tower. It was either because of some magic spell or one of the local superstitions he'd heard of before.

It only took a few minutes for the train to reach the familiar tower, which was good since Mickey really didn't want to spend hours looking out of a window. However, he quickly saw the view when he stepped off the train; it was nothing like the place he remembered. The top of the tower had it's left wall blown clean off and the ground looked as though a war had just taken place on it. There were craters everywhere and the sky itself seemed to be red, but that's not what Mickey's attention was fixated upon. Lying in front of the tower was the form of master Yen Sid. Mickey let out a horrified cry and ran as fast as he could to his mentor's side, praying that he was still alive. As he soon a she reached the wizard, it became apparent that the injuries weren't lethal; he could see the wizard's chest rise and fall as he tried to breathe. Looking down at Yen Sid's robes he could see that they were singed and torn, as if they had been caught in an inferno and then sliced repeatedly and clumsily with an axe.

"Mickey?" Yen Sid called out weakly as soon as he laid eyes on his former pupil, "it that you?"

"It's me; you're going to be fine," Mickey replied, almost tearfully, as he cast a healing spell on Yen Sid. The spell didn't totally heal the wizard's injuries, there were far too many to be healed with a single spell, but it did restore enough of his strength for him to be able to survive his injuries. "Who did this?" Mickey's tone, while at first filled with worry and grief, now had more than a small hint of anger.

"I…don't know his name, but I've heard several stories about him," Master Yen Sid replied as Mickey helped him up. "People call "the one eyed man", I've always thought it was a foolish title but it stuck nevertheless. His real name has been lost to history."

"I don't care who he is…he'll pay!" Mickey said summoning his keyblade in anger. The mouse king rarely got angry, but when he did he could get as ferocious as Saix in his berserker form.

"That would be ill advised," Yen Sid said, as he placed his hand on Mickey's head, it was the only place he could reach without crouching. "I don't know what he wanted, but after he defeated me he somehow accessed my mind." Mickey lowered his keyblade in pure shock when he heard this. Yen Sid was the most powerful battle mage he knew of, if someone could defeat him in open combat…

"You mean he didn't surprise you?"

Yen Sid shook his head sadly. "No…he defeated me without resorting to dishonorable tactics, but that's not the point. I think it would be best if we don't provoke him until we're ready. When he accessed my mind, apparently through some kind of telepathy, I was barely conscious, but I was able to understand one thing: I didn't have what he was looking for." Mickey worriedly crossed his arms in thought. He didn't understand what someone that powerful could possibly want! Also, there was a nagging feeling in the back of his head that was telling him that he had forgotten something.

"Master, what did he look like?" Yen Sid seemed surprised at his pupil's question, but he nevertheless answered it. He had come to trust Mickey's judgment in most matters. He noticed Mickey's eyes widen noticeably when he gave him an extremely accurate description of the man that he had ordered Donald and Goofy to shadow. "But I sent Donald and Goofy after him!" Yen Sid's eyes widened at this frightening development, but he wasted no time by just standing there in shock.

"Quickly, we must make haste!" were the magician's chosen words as he began to walk briskly toward the train, followed closely by Mickey. He may have been severely weakened, but he had strength enough to walk without help…and fight if the need arose.

* * *

Sora grunted as he blocked a downwards strike form Kairi. While he knew she was a capable fighter and a quick learner, he hadn't expected her to pick up on his own fighting techniques so quickly. "Not bad, Kairi!" Sora grunted out as he turned her blow aside and countered with an upwards diagonal slash. Kairi simply grinned and jumped back, narrowly avoiding Sora's blow. So far, it seemed that Kairi had become quite adept at both offensive magic and swordsmanship (or swordswomanship in her case). Unfortunately, she lacked the same constitution that Sora and Riku had, which was explained by the fact that they were only able to take so much damage because they had toughened up after all the hits they had taken from both heartless and nobodies in the past. Still, Kairi was going to be able to match both of them very quickly at this rate.

Kairi simply grinned and lowered her keyblade, which resembled a weapon of nature itself. It had metallic flowers forming the "pick" of the key and a thin golden vine that climbed up the entire blade. She had yet to come up with a name for it. "Thanks Sora!" Kairi replied, happy both at the fact that she hade made a great deal of progress in a short span of time and the fact that Sora was impressed. "Thanks!" she replied after taking several deep breathes "but if you don't mind, I could really use a breather about now." Sora nodded somewhat eagerly in response, he too was tired from their sparring match. Just as they were about to sit down on the ground, however, they heard what sounded like Nihlus yelping un pain and Aqua yelling "Sorry!".

Sora and Kairi both turned there heads to see Nihlus holding his arm, which had smoke coming off of it, and Aqua holding Nihlus's staff, which he had allowed her to borrow for training purposes, and laughing her head off at Nihlus's facial expression. "Seriously," Aqua said as she tried to catch her breathe, "I'm really sorry about! I guess I shouldn't have hit you with that much fire!" Nihlus simply grunted in response, still trying to recover from whatever spells Aqua had cast. From what Sora and Kairi could understand from what they had heard from Nihlus and Aqua's exchanges, it seemed that Aqua wasn't much good at sword fighting due to her tendency to ignore the finer techniques and go in using only the most basic of strikes and blocks. On the other hand, however, she seemed to be picking up magic at an extremely rapid pace, she claimed that it was much more exciting to learn than a few sword moves, and she could also take a lot more hits than anyone, with the possible exceptions of Ven and Nihlus who probably knew this all too well, had ever given her credit for. Sora guessed that it was from all the fights she got into with Nihlus and Ven, the three of them could really act like the three stooges at times.

Before anything else could happen, not counting for the fact that Nihlus was muttering for Shadow to "Hurry up and heal me!", Ven came in carrying his usual laid-back air. "Hey, guys, Terra said we're only about a minute away, so you'd better get ready!"

"Wow, so this is Halloween Town!" Kairi exclaimed as she looked around after they had landed the gummi ship just outside of the rather infamous town. With the exception of Sora and Terra, everyone seemed to either be in awe of the town or enchanted by it.

"This…place…is…AWESOME!" Aqua yelled out with a hyperness that could rival even Yuffie's. "C'mon, we've gotta' exploring right now!" Aqua yelled as she grabbed Ven by his arm in preparation to literally drag him with her on her expedition whether he liked it or not. However, before she could run off Nihlus grabbed her by the hood of her costume, immobilizing her.

"Hold it, we came here for a reason, or did you forget about that chaser ruin?" Nihlus said dryly, "…though, I have to admit the idea of exploring this place is quite tempting." Aqua grunted and then released Ven, albeit reluctantly.

"Spoiled sport!" She muttered to herself as the party made it's way through the gates of Halloween Town. The town appeared to be in the exact same shape as it was when Sora had last seen it, covered in dust and cobwebs with the occasional pumpkin to keep things from getting boring.

"According to the records I found in another ruin," Terra said as he led the party out of Halloween Town and towards the woods that bordered it, "the ruins were nearby the doors that lead to the other aspects of this world." At first Sora didn't quite know what Terra was talking about, but he quickly realized he was talking about the clearing that had the doors to each of the different holidays. He was about to loach it out when he realized it would only lead to trouble. There was no telling how everyone else would react if they were given the chance to see Santa Clause!

'Maybe I can take Kairi and Riku with me to see him after all this is over.' Sora thought trying to be optimistic. The thought of visiting Christmas Town with Riku and Kairi did a great deal to lift Sora's spirits. As he began to somewhat dreamily picture the trip though, his thoughts began to drift to him and Kairi. Abruptly, before he could fully realize what he was doing, he thought of him and Kairi walking down the streets of Christmas down…underneath a mistletoe. Sora immediately shoved the idea out of his mind, embarrassed beyond belief at his own thoughts. It was even worse than the time Donald correctly guessed that he was thinking about Kairi on Port Royal! Suddenly, though, he felt like his mind was touched. It only got worse when he felt a sense of smugness emanating from what ever was touching his mind.

'_Shadow, what do you think you're doing!_' Sora heard Nihlus mentally yell, he had almost totally forgotten about the fact that he and Nihlus now had a mental link. Just because Nihlus and Shadow kept it sealed away didn't mean it wasn't there.

'_Ah, come one! I just sensed some very powerful emotions coming from Sora here and I went to investigate…_' Sora heard Nihlus grunt angrily in response, it was clear he was just as frustrated with Shadow as Sora. Sora immediately began to push Shadow away from his mind, it was startlingly easy! Perhaps Nihlus was helping him restrain the rather prying darkness-being? It would make sense that the two of them would be able to restrain Shadow with ease…

'_I saw it…'_ was all Shadow said in a rather smug tone before Sora forced him out of his mind. The message couldn't have been clearer. Regardless, Sora could somehow feel the mental barrier being reestablished so that Shadow wouldn't be able to bug him, for now at least. There was one thing that sprang to Sora's mind, though. If Nihlus and Shadow could try to bring down the mental barriers between them that prevented their link from taking effect, why couldn't he break them too? Sora, mostly out of curiosity, reached out mentally toward Nihlus and felt the barrier. He didn't try to break it, though; he would save that for later, when he could get even with Shadow for his "investigation".

"Hey, Sora, are you alright?" Riku asked as he waved his hand around in front of his friend's face in an attempt to get his attention.

"Huh, yeah, I was just…thinking," Sora replied, deciding it would be best if he didn't tell Riku about what had just transpired…especially the part about Kairi. Riku raised an eyebrow at Sora's response, and not without good reason. For Sora to just think like that was almost unheard of, but then, Sora had grown up quite a bit while he was helping to fix things behind the scenes looking like Xehanort's heartless. Sora and Riku were both shaken out of their musings by Kairi hollering for them to "Hurry up!". It seemed that Sora wasn't the only one who had grown while Riku was away…

* * *

The one eyed man, or Xamic as the nobodies called him, held the strange humanoid duck that had attacked him out of the blue by the neck. He was just outside of the town's view when he opened a door of darkness when the duck and his companion, some creature that didn't seem to fall under any category (A/N Seriously, what IS Goofy, a dog?) attacked him. He had defeated both of them almost effortlessly, a single swing from his sword had sent the strange dog-creature flying and it was an easy matter for him to sprint toward, and grab the duck by it's neck. Apparently neither of the creatures had any idea who they were dealing with. He had many titles, though despite his apparent infamy on the worlds he had visited and in some cases ravaged, people were either unaware his existence or didn't even recognize him, not even from their precious legends…

Xamic squeezed the Duck's neck even harder, causing it to gag despite the fact that he held it aloft with only one hand. He couldn't help but take a sick pleasure in watching the creature suffer, though he knew any happiness he experienced would soon fade. He would only be able to feel anger, hatred, disgust, and any other "negative" emotion until he had accomplished what he had set out to do all those years ago. The one eyed man, demon, the slayer of armies, the ravager of worlds, all of these were just a few of the titles he had accumulated over his years of wandering, and all of them failed to describe just what he was capable of. He had become the very incarnate of the god of death to some people and yet it meant nothing to him, nothing meant anything to him except accomplishing his goal…

Xamic shook his head clear of his thoughts, he had more important things to do than think of what people thought of him, it was truly irrelevant. He loosened his grip on the duck's neck just enough to allow it to get some air into it's lungs, he wouldn't let it die until after he was through with it. Just as he was about to rip whatever information the duck might have possessed out of it's mind, Xamic heard a cry of "Donald!" coming from his left flank. He turned his head just enough to see the dog-creature charging him with it's shield, he had to give it credit for it's persistence. It was, however, a futile attempt. Xamic simply spun in a circle with his sword drawn as the dog creature got within striking range. The strike was aimed low enough to cause the creature to trip and fall to the ground, unable to act. The loud crack that had com about as Xamic struck with the flat of his sword suggested that he had broken one of the creature's legs. "Goofy!" the duck chocked out as it futilely tried to free itself from Xamic's grip. The creature, Goofy, as it's companion named Donald had called it let out an almost ridiculous scream that sounded like it would have been trademarked it this was all some kind of fictitious universe…which it wasn't.

Xamic then brought his blade crashing down on top of Goofy's shield just to shut him up, and discourage him from trying anything else. The shield itself was rent beyond repair and Xamic's blade partially cut Goofy's arm eliciting another ridiculous sounding scream from him. With nothing else to interrupt him, Xamic began to access Donald's mind with his rather limited telepathic abilities. He was only able to send messages and try to rip things from people's minds as long as they were in relatively close proximity to him. The duck tried to resist and hide things from him, but Donald was simply too weakened from nearly being chocked to death to put up a real fight against a nearly insurmountable foe. First Xamic discovered why Donald and Goofy were following him, who the mouse king was, and the significance of the wizard he had defeated and left for dead afterward. There were also some other things the duck tried to hide from him, though they were unimportant. Him cheating in a few card games with Goofy, making rude faces at a child armed with a bizarre key-sword when the child wasn't looking, and finally peeping on a female duck in the shower were just a few of the blackmail worthy memories that Donald had unsuccessfully tried to hide. Xamic dropped the now unconscious Donald to the ground, it didn't matter to him whether the duck lived or died. There were very few beings in the universe that could actually make him have to try to fight, and even fewer could hope match his abilities.

However, not one second after he opened another dark door that would take him to another world, he heard someone cry out. He slowly turned his head to see Mickey, he mouse king, and the wizard he had defeated earlier. Xamic's one visible eye narrowed as he drew his sword once more. This time, however, he slammed it into the ground sending an immense fireball forth from the blade, in the direction of his two, new attackers. His eye that was normally covered up by his hair was visible for one second, showing it to be gray and blind. "Who do you think you are?!" Mickey yelled as he and the blue-robed wizard just barely managed to roll out of the fireball's path. They narrowly managed to get ahead of the large explosion that was created when it missed them. In response to Mickey, Xamic touched his chin with his tongue allowing the small king to see the flat of it. Branded on Xamic's tongue, was some strange marking, it was far too intricate and complex to have been made without magic.

Mickey recoiled in surprise; he had seen something like the symbol that was branded onto Xamic's tongue during his years of tutelage under Yen Sid. What it's purpose was, if it had any, escaped him though. He had never really focused on magical enchantments; having been more interested in more practical, from his point of view, magic.

Xamic withdrew his tongue after he allowed both the wizard and the mouse king to see it. Judging from the surprised looks on both their faces, they either knew who he was or had an idea of what he could do to them if they ever crossed him again. Without further ado, Xamic walked through the door he had opened a few seconds ago, he still had much to do if he was to finally end his labor.

"…It can't be," Master Yen Sid finally said in a low voice after he had helped Mickey to stabilize the unconscious Goofy and Donald. Mickey turned to face his former master with his head tilted in confusion.

"What do you mean, master?" he asked. Mickey had never quite shaken the habit of calling Yen Sid "master". The rather stern wizard had made quite an impression on his life; it was only natural for him to have a great deal of respect for the wizard.

Yen Sid shook his head form side to side in disbelief, his eyes still fixated on the spot where the one eyed man ha been a minute ago. "There was one man in an old, old children's story that was branded on his tongue just like him," Yen Sid started, almost in a trance, "he was a tremendously powerful warrior and a great hero, according to the story."

" Master…," Mickey started only to stop himself. He didn't quite see why Yen Sid was getting so worked up. The one eyed man was probably just someone who deliberately made themselves resemble a hero from the local stories in order to appear more intimidating.

"The emblem on that man's tongue and his sword both match the hero's…the hero who lived one thousand years ago…"

* * *

"Say, Namine, why do you draw so much?" Aqua asked as she approached Kairi's nobody, "I mean, I can understand if it's your hobby, but you seem to be doing it twenty four seven!"

Namine let out a weak smile she turned from the tree marked with a large Christmas tree that she had been drawing and faced Aqua. "Oh, well, Jiminy, Mickey's royal chronicler, isn't here to write anything down or draw pictures so I decided to do it myself…besides I really like drawing."

"Cool, hey can I see some of your drawings?" Aqua asked as she reached for Namine's sketch pad. Namine jerked away from Aqua, holding her sketch pad across her chest with both hands.

"Uh, right now is really not a good time…" Namine started, it was obvious she was trying to hide something. "My sketch pad is really disorganized right now so…" Inwardly Namine winced from such a pathetic excuse. It was the only thing she could come up with; she had panicked and hadn't been thinking when she said it. Regardless of whether or not Aqua believed her, she couldn't let the blue haired teen see her drawings…if Aqua saw the one that she had been working on when no one was watching then she would never live it down, it was that embarrassing.

Aqua's eyes narrowed with suspicion at Namine's reluctance to show her drawings. What could she possibly be so desperate to hide? "Oh fine, be like that!" Aqua huffed as she spun away from Namine with her arms crossed. However as soon as Namine relaxed her grip on the sketchpad Aqua, quick as lightning, spun around and grabbed the top of it. "I'm going to see what's in there, I swear!" Aqua proclaimed as she tried to pull the sketchpad away from Namine. Aqua had to admit, though, Namine was doing a pretty impressive job of holding onto it, despite her rather delicate appearance. In fact, for all of Aqua's years of outdoor adventures, she couldn't pry the sketchpad from Namine. Either the former nobody was stronger than she looked, or she REALLY didn't want anyone to see what was inside of the sketchpad.

"Aqua, stop it," Namine growled out as she struggled to maintain her grip on the contested sketchpad, "it's private!" Namine's protests only served to strengthen Aqua's resolve and insatiable curiosity about the sketchpad. With one great tug Aqua partially succeeded in tearing the pad away from Namine, meaning although she pulled it away from the blonde haired nobody, she had pulled so hard that it went flying from her grip as soon as it left Namine. The pad hit the ground, making almost no sound whatsoever. It didn't stay there, however, as Roxas soon picked it up. Aqua and Namine's squabble had attracted the attention of the entire party, who had previously just been watching Terra as he walked about the clearing in an attempt to find something that would give a clue as to where the ruin was.

Namine let out a choked sound that only went to show how embarrassed she was that, out of everyone in the group, it was Roxas that had picked up her sketchpad and was about to see what she was trying to hide from Aqua. For her, the day couldn't have possibly gotten worse. "Roxas don't!" Namine hollered in vain as she began to run over to her fellow nobody in an attempt to reclaim her sketchpad. Unfortunately, it was clear to her that he had already seen her drawing, his face said it all.

"Namine…" Roxas started. He wasn't able to find the right words to say. The sketch he was looking at was an incredibly detailed drawing of him smiling; it was easily the best drawing he had ever seen Namine draw! The level of detail and realism in it only went to show that Namine had put a great deal of time and care into the drawing. Roxas handed the sketchpad back to Namine as soon as she reached him, though her face was a red as a tomato. She quickly spun around and walked away from Roxas in an attempt to alvage what dignity she had left; she didn't notice that Roxas himself had a blush as a result of the realization of all the trouble she had gone through in order to make the drawing. In this case a picture was truly worth a thousand words.

"Great, so, how's it coming Terra?" Ven asked out of the blue in an attempt to break up the awkward moment. The chaser simply held up a finger in a "give me a sec" gesture before he summoned his keyblade and aimed it at the ground. A small beam of light shot forth from the tip and buried itself into the ground. There was a momentary shaking and then it seemed as if the ground had opened up before Terra. At first that's exactly what everyone believed was happening until they saw that the hole was both perfectly rectangular and had a stone staircase that seemed to lead into an infinite abyss. "I think we found what we where looking for," Ven commented as he walked up beside Terra and looked down the staircase, "Though I could be wrong, we might have just discovered an ancient McDonalds or something!"

Terra merely grunted at Ven's joke as he began the descent into the chaser ruin. "Be careful," he warned as the rest of the expedition followed him, "There is no way of telling what kind of traps may still be active in this ruin." Terra's talk of traps didn't help to raise Sora's spirits at all. He glanced back at Kairi, who was walking directly behind him, for a brief second.

'_We'll be fine_,' he thought with finality. He had been separated from Riku and Kairi for the last time, he would never let it happen again. Although he didn't know it, Kairi was thinking the exact same thoughts he was.

* * *

Okay, I know that's probably not the best way to end a chapter, but I'm sorry. As much as I like writing I had to end it somewhere and I couldn't think of a better place. In case you're wondering, Xamic is in fact a slihgtly altered version from another video game. You guys might be able to guess hi name, but I'm not sure if you'll be able to truly understand how he got that strong until I revael it to you. The game he's from is almost totally foreign from from Kingdom Hearts, so I think it's safe to say that none of you have even heard of him. In the next chapter you'll see where Aqua and Ven get their chaser armor and keyblades from, as well as the promised Pirates of the Caribbean two chapter I promised!


	13. Semi Important Announcement

Okay, I just wanted to tell you guys that I'm going to spend this weekend rewriting the first three chapters of this story. I just want to keep them more or less on par with my current level of writing ability. The overall happenings will be the same, but I still hope you guys give them a look.

I just happened to be reading over them when I realized how terrible they were, so I'm basically adding a heck of a lot more detail and improving the fight scenes. I just got too lazy the first time around to make them epic, but I'm correcting the so that they won't make Sora, Kairi, and Riku look like a bunch of wimps!


	14. Chapter 13:A Ruinous Adventure

* * *

Notes: Okay, I would really like to take the time to thank luvablenerd for all the reviews! It's nice to know that you guys are enjoying my work! Anyway, this is going to be where Pirates of the Caribbean 2 comes in, so I hope you'll enjoy it!

Me: Alright, Sora, it's your turn to do the disclaimer!

Sora: Aw, why do I have to do it? You made Nihlus do it last time!

Me: Yeah, but it's not his turn anymore, now is it? So start saying it or I'll embarrass both you and Kairi…but mainly you….

Sora: HEY, that's cheating! Oh, fine…blackrogue123 doesn't own Kingdom Hearts or Pirates of the Caribbean, only the stuff he makes up.

* * *

"Wow, nice place," Nihlus sarcastically as he looked around the circular chamber that the stairs had led them into. Suddenly Nihlus let out a quiet snicker. "You have to admit, it's kind of weird how the chasers built an underground base when they were on the side of light!" Nihlus's comment wasn't entirely unwarranted, for the ruins were just that: in ruins. Room was made out of stone that was covered in the dust of and age past and there was an engraving in the left wall of a chaser, though it's features were very difficult to make out. There were three different passageways as well; though the lack of light made it impossible to see where they led.

"Yes, it is somewhat ironic," Terra admitted as he led the group into the center of the room. "I think that this place was used as a fall back position or for storage, the records I found were nearly impossible to read." Terra then walked forward and began to the inscriptions below the engraving of the chaser, as well as the markings next to each of the passages. "Strange, that carving is supposed to be General Raso, and yet this place seems unimportant compared with the other ruins I've seen." Terra did have a point, if the ruin was merely a fallback position or a place to store things of mild importance, then why did it have an engraving of the greatest chaser in it?

"Ah, who cares?" Ven said shrugging as he moved forward, "a ruin's a ruin, right? Why should this one be any different from a common cave or an abandoned building?"

"I'm just saying that we should be wary," Terra warned as he moved to the passage on the far right. "If this place is more than a common stronghold, then there might be additional defenses that we might have to worry about. Sora, Riku, and Kairi will go down the middle passage while Nihlus, Aqua, and Ven go down the one on the left, and Roxas, Namine, and I will go down this one."

"Hey, I'm a person too y'know!" Shadow shouted out with mock indignation. Both Roxas and Terra grimaced, Roxas because Shadow's words reminded him of Rai from Twilight Town and Terra because of his own failure to remember about the fact that Shadow was ever present through Nihlus. "Ah, don't worry about, people always forget I'm here; it makes it easier for me to surprise them!" Without further ado, the three teams split up going down their separate passageways, ready for what ever awaited them in the ruins.

* * *

_'So, Nihlus, do you get the impression that Terra doesn't like me very much?'_ Shadow telepathically asked as Nihlus led Aqua and Ven down the empty corridor. So far, they hadn't seen anything other than a few stones on the floor.

'_Well, why should he like you? There's no telling what kind of stuff his father taught him when he was a kid and the pair then there is the fact that our predecessors wiped out the chasers in that last battle…'_

Nihlus heard Shadow huff and then mutter a number of indecipherable things, but he didn't actually make an effort to continue the mental conversation. Suddenly Nihlus felt a pull at his left foot and fell forward as he lost his balance. He had been so absorbed with his conversation with Shadow, that he hadn't been paying attention to what he was doing. It was a bad habit that he had yet to break. Before he could actually hit the floor or even use his abilities to stop his fall, Nihlus felt someone grip the back of his grim reaper's hood. He was jerked back, the hood still in the grip of whoever had stopped his fall.

"That makes us even!" Aqua declared as Nihlus's hood fell back. Nihlus looked to the side at the blue-haired girl, his surprised face now visible to her. "Hey, don't look at me like that! I'll admit it's pretty dark in here, but if you can't even walk without tripping over a rock, then I'll lead the way." She then walked right past Nihlus. Despite the darkness, a smirk could be seen on her face.

"Now why is it that whenever I make a mistake like that, she always hits in the head?" Ven asked smugly as he walked up next to the still stunned Nihlus. Ven's remark instantly shook Nihlus out of his daze.

"It's because you're a flirtatious pervert, and I'm not." Ven grinned wryly; he had expected Nihlus to react with a cutting insult aimed at Ven's skirt chasing tendencies.

"Hey, I might be a smooth talker, but I'm not a pervert…and don't change the subject on me!" Ven shot back as he hurriedly walked beside Nihlus as the two tried to catch up to Aqua, who hadn't bothered to wait for them. "I'm just saying she acts differently around you…" At this Nihlus placed his hood back over his head to conceal his face from Ven and quickened his pace, he knew exactly where Ven was going with this whole "conversation". "Actually, you also act a little different around her, now that I think about it…"

Nihlus physically winced and mentally swore, much to Shadow's amusement. Ven was no doubt about to bring up some of Nihlus's past behavior in an attempt to mess with him. "Ven…" Nihlus warned, but to no avail.

"Yeah, if I recall correctly, you were always asking people to spar with you so you could get better at fighting," Ven said ignoring Nihlus's threat, "you always said that you wanted to get good enough to beat Aqua after she beat the hell out of you, but I'm beginning to think you were just trying to impress her!"

"Ven, shut up!" Nihlus barked at the Roxas-look-a-like. His childhood memories weren't something that he liked to remember, though not out of some great tragedy. It was simply because Nihlus was the complete opposite of Aqua when he was a kid, terrible at fighting and lacking confidence in virtually all areas of life. While he had grown out of it, mainly due to Aqua and Ven's influence (primarily Aqua's though), he still didn't like being reminded of a time in which he was so weak.

Before Ven could tease Nihlus anymore, both boys heard the sound of footfalls coming from in front of them. Soon enough an excited Aqua came into view. "Hey, guys, you've got to see this, it's awesome!" Ven and Nihlus exchanged glances and then began to follow Aqua as she led them down the corridor, for now the issue was dropped.

"So, what were you two talking about? I heard a few words, but nothing concrete." Nihlus let out a groan and simply claimed that Ven had told him a perverse joke. When Ven tried to open his mouth, Aqua silenced him with a furious glare. She had virtually no tolerance for his perverse streak.

In under a minute the group reached a medium sized room. It was square shaped and had what appeared to be a row of chaser armor and keyblades lining the walls of the room. The suits or armor varied slightly, some were clearly meant to be worn by males while others for females. The armors only differed in the way the crests on their helmets were formed. Presumably the crests were used to show each chaser's rank. What caught Nihlus's attention, however, was the fact that two of the keyblades were apparently missing. There were two empty spots on the rack where they should have been.

"I think this is the armory or something," Aqua said as she walked over to one of the suits of armor. Nihlus let out a grunt of agreement at Aqua's statement, when suddenly the room seemed to instantly brighten. Both Aqua and Nihlus spun around to see Ven standing next to a now illuminated crystal that seemed to be imbedded in the wall. When they looked up, they could see that a number of similar crystals, the apparent source of the light.

"Huh, I didn't know that the chasers invented light bulbs!" Ven commented at his own accomplishment. "Hey, that's a neat set of armor! I wonder if it'll fit me?" At this, Ven walked over to the suit of armor that he had signaled out. Out of curiosity, Nihlus and Aqua watched as he tried to put the armor on, removing the parts of his Halloween costume that got in the way. It turned out to be a surprisingly good fit. The armor was nearly identical to Terra's, the only differences being the fact that it was in superb condition and the crests on the helmet were slanted only slightly.

"Wow, Ven, that armor looks good on you!" Aqua said, impressed at how naturally the armor seemed on Ven. "Hang on, let me try one on!" Aqua immediately reached for another suit of chaser armor, taking off her Halloween costume to reveal her normal outfit underneath it. Soon enough, she too had on a suit of armor; however it was much more worn and torn than Ven's. "Oh, great…" Aqua muttered to herself when she saw a part of the cracked armor disintegrate before her very eyes.

"…Hang on; I'll be right back with a surprise that should cheer you up!" Nihlus said mustering as much enthusiasm and optimism as soon as he picked up on Aqua's disappointment. Before either Ven or Aqua could say anything Nihlus entered a dark door that he summoned. About ten seconds later, he came walking right back through it with what appeared to be a suit of chaser armor in pieces as well as a keyblade. The keyblade had a gray hand guard and a blue blade, the key protion at the end of the blade was comprised of a single arch that vaguely resembled a symbol in the Chinese alphabet.

Nihlus dropped all of the armor, as well as the keyblade, to the ground and motioned for Aqua to put it on. With an eyebrow raised Aqua complied, somewhat surprised at Nihlus's actions, and yet inwardly ecstatic at the same time. In about a minute she had replaced the rather poor suit of armor with the one Nihlus had brought, and found, much to her delight, that it fit perfectly. "Wow, Nihlus, thanks!" Aqua said, at a loss for words. The crests on her helmet went backwards so that they pointed behind her instead of upwards. "Hey, where'd you get this?"

"Oh, there was some weird room on Hallow Bastion (also known as Radiant Garden) that the heartless told me about when they happened to be exploring one day. I think they said that Xemnas used to visit it and called it "the room of sleep" or something along those lines." (A/N: In the KH2 final mix there were tow cut scenes that introduced it, and showed Aqua's armor laying in parts in it) "I never had any use for it up until now."

"Huh, well thanks Nihlus! I really like it!"

"Uh, sure," Nihlus replied as he nervously scratched the back of his head, "I'm just glad to…see you happy…" his last few words came awkwardly form his mouth, as though he couldn't make up his mind as to whether or not to say them. Ven just barely manage to suppress a round of sniggers, he couldn't help but wonder at what Nihlus and Aqua's facial expressions looked like underneath the hood and helmet respectively as they tried to avoid looking directly at each other after Nihlus's reply. Somehow, Ven got the impression that they both looked redder than a pair of beats about now, and Aqua blushing was quite a sight given the fact that her blue hair and eyes conflicted sharply with pinkish colored cheeks that seemed to materialize whenever something like this happened.

As if to break the awkward moment, a loud and pained cry echoed throughout the ruin, filling the entire place with it's noise. A desperate call of "NAMINE!!" immediately followed, the voice was indisputably Roxas's. Nihlus, Aqua, and Ven stood dumbstruck for a few seconds before springing into action. They could hear the sounds of battle as they ran back toward the main chamber where they would then try to find out what happened.

* * *

Kairi felt an a unpleasant tingle go down her spine when she heard what sounded like Namine crying out in pain, followed immediately by Roxas calling out her name in a terrified tone. Sora, Riku, and her had just arrived at a cross way and were about to split up in order to save time when these strange crystal lights seemed to turn on without any apparent reason. They seemed to illuminate the entire ruin, negating the necessity of using the keyblades as torches via a fire spell. "They must in trouble!" Sora yelled out as he began to sprint as fast as he could down the hall, followed closely by Riku and Kairi. To Kairi, it was one of Sora's more endearing qualities: he was always willing to rush off to help someone, no matter what.

It was what made him a hero in her eyes, the keyblade simply happened to be the tool he used to be a hero with rather than what made him one, in Kairi's eyes at least. As she ran she could faintly here what sounded like Nihlus yelling for someone, presumably Aqua and Ven, to "Hurry up!", though it was clear that Riku, Sora, and her would reach Terra, Roxas, and Namine before them. Their passage had no troublesome rocks to trip over and was closer to the rightmost passage than the one Nihlus's group had chosen.

Still sprinting madly, the trio soon reached the central chamber and continued down the passage Teraa had taken Roxas and Namine down. The crystals that lit the way allowed them to see what was going on. Namine was on the ground unmoving, her white costume was tainted by a crimson red, undoubtedly her own blood. Over her stood a bizarre metal creature which appeared to be an incredibly rusted suit of chaser armor with an equally rusted sword instead of a keyblade. It was soon literally torn apart by an enraged Roxas, who attacked it with oathkeeper and oblivion with a ferocity that rivaled anything Nihlus could muster on an incredibly bad day.

Further behind Roxas, Namine, and the now scattered suit of chaser armor that had been animated through some kind of magical spell was Terra, who was grappling with three of the same creatures. Somehow, they had gotten the jump on the chaser and tackled him to the ground before he could bring his formidable keyblade to bear against them. The creatures mercilessly stabbed at him through the cracks in his armor. He hadn't had it repaired after the beating he received from Shadow due to the fact that it's disheveled appearance was needed for the purposes of fitting in on Halloween Town.

Terra let out a growl and somehow managed to throw all three of the creatures off him, striking them with his keyblade before they could recover. As soon as they seemed to disintegrate from the blow, five more of their kind took the fallens' place in front of Terra. "Roxas, get Namine to safety!" the wounded chaser bellowed as he gripped his keyblade with both hands, ready to defend the two nobodies despite his wounds.

Roxas, who was now holding Namine's head in his arms as he kneeled next to her, tearfully nodded in reply. As quick as a flash, he scooped up Namine wedding style and began to run in Sora, Kairi, and Riku's direction. "Roxas, what happened?!" Kairi asked desperately.

Roxas looked up at Kairi with watery eyes as he placed Namine gently down on the ground in front of the three keyblade masters. "T-those things a-ambushed us!" he replied, his voice choked with emotion. "Please, Namine didn't have a weapon when that thing jumped out of nowhere!" Kairi kneeled down to see how bad her nobody's wounds were. Namine had what appeared to be a sword wound on her stomach where it appeared that one of the armor monsters had stabbed her, as well as a cut on her arm.

"Roxas…" Namine started in a weak tone as she struggled to keep her eyelids open, "…I'm sorry…"

If anything, Namine's apology for something that escaped everyone's reason only seemed to make Roxas even more desperate. "Wait, you're going to be alright!" he declared, placing his hand on her shoulder. "Sora!" The brunette keyblade master nodded his head and seemed to concentrate for a split second as he pointed the kingdom key at Namine.

"Curaga!" Instantly, Namine's wounds seemed to heal and her breathe evened out. The blood was still there, however.

"Roxas?" Namine asked cautiously as she sat up. Roxas immediately enveloped her in a hug, while he was still kneeling by her side, completely ignoring any notions of embarrassment or teasing from anyone. Sora, Riku and Kairi simply stared at the tender moment for a few seconds before a cry of pain from Terra shook them out of it. They turned to see that Terra had managed to defeat two of the five creatures when they rushed him in hopes of overwhelming him. One of the remaining three had knocked the weakened chaser to the ground, allowing it's comrade to stab Terra's right arm; pinning both it and his keyblade to the ground. The third now loomed over Terra, preparing to stab the chaser in his exposed neck in order to finish him of once and for all.

Riku and Sora both hurled their keyblades towards two of the armor monsters. Riku's hit the one about to finish off Terra, while the Sora's hit the one that had stabbed Terra through the arm. The third creature noticed this and made a mad dash toward Sora and Riku, intent on killing one of them before their keyblades could return to their hands. Suddenly, it was hit by what appeared to be a ball of pure light. The creature seemed to hang in midair for a few seconds, and then exploded with the light ball, sending it's rusted body flying everywhere.

Sora and Riku both turned around to see Namine standing with her hand outstretched toward where the creature used to be, with Roxas still at her side. They were surprised to say the least; apparently Namine wasn't nearly as helpless as she appeared to be. The ability to shoot light blasts without a keyblade was quite an accomplishment. Namine, however, seemed weakened, whether it was from the light blast or her wounds was unknown. She stumbled and was caught by Roxas before she could actually fall.

Sora ran over to Terra to see how severe his wounds were. Sora's eyes widened when he saw how much blood the chaser had apparently lost from being repeatedly stabbed. Terra had several wounds of the same caliber that Namine had on her stomach, which was where she was nearly impaled. How Terra managed to survive such an onslaught was beyond even Sora' comprehension. After removing the sword that had been thrust straight through Terra's arm, Sora cast a curaga spell on him, though the chaser would still require some time t recover from his near death experience.

"The Calvary is here!" Ven's voice echoed out. Kairi spun around to see Nihlus with a curved darkness sword in hand, as well as both Aqua and Ven with what appeared to be keyblades. Not only that, but the latter two of the group were also in what appeared to be chaser armor. Ven's keyblade was markedly similar to Terra's, but it was smaller and had a slight curve to it. He also held it in a reverse grip with one hand rather than the traditional "point the blade in front of you with both hands" grip.

"It seems we were too late to help," Nihlus stated as he unsummoned his sword.

"Aw man! I wanted to test these and my magic!" Aqua protested as she motioned toward her keyblade and her armor. Nihlus eyed both Terra and Namine, noting the fact that they both had blood on them.

"I think we can all agree that it would be best if we went back t the gummi ship and explained what happened there." The idea was met with a chorus of approvals, ranging from simple nods to cries of "Yeah! I could really use a break about now…and a few sodas!" Roxas helped to support Namine as the entire group walked back out of the ruins. He would never ever allow anything like that to happen to her again.

* * *

And once again the chapter ended abruptly, sorry about that! Well, I promise, the next chapter is when they finally get to visit Jack…I mean, CAPTAIN Jack Sparrow! Anyway, R&R please, reviews do make go around, y'know. (Crap, Rai is really starting to rub of me…hey, I didn't say it that time!)


	15. Chapter 14: Welcome to Port Royal

Notes: Well, I'm glad you guys liked the last chapter! The reason I kinda focus on Nihlus in the character development department is because there has so far been only one OC in a fic I've started to read ("That's Why" by Talitha Koum) that people actually liked. Seriously, I've seen some pretty impressive fan art of her on deviant art, that's a pretty likable character in my books!

Anyway, I'm sorry if I keep bringing this up. It's just that I've really been putting a lot of effort into making Nihlus likable (since he's the only main-character OC so far) without having him usurp the canon cast. Ah, I'll just stop whining now. Unless someone explicitly complains then I guess I'll just take the silence of the majority of my readers as a sign that I've been doing a good job. On with the disclaimer!

Me: OK, Riku, it's your turn now, and before you try to get out of it, remember that I'll be the one who decides what kind of damage keyblade master Xehanort will be doing when he finally gets here!

Riku: Nice try, you almost had me, but if this story was going to end sadly then you would have marked it under the tragedy, not Adventure and Romance!

Me: Hm, good point…but that doesn't mean I can't have really sad parts of extreme emotional turmoil; you're still a teenager you know, and then there's just how badly he can taunt you…

Riku: (narrows eyes) Fine, if you're going to be like that then I'll do the disclaimer! Blackrogue123 doesn't own anything except his OCs and the places he comes up with. By the way, what did you mean by incredibly sad moments?

Me: Oh, well, I can't tell you due to spoilers, but let's just say it has to do with Xamic and how ruthless he can be…that sword can cut someone up pretty bad you know…not to mention the fact that the "condition" Kinjex develops after he and Nihlus clash is going to hurt everyone…especially Sora. Of course, that's all a long way off!

Riku: You bastard!

Me: …That's not a nice thing to say to someone who can invite every fan girl you have to hang out with you in these disclaimers from now on!

* * *

Currently, everyone was back on the ship, in the cockpit that they were using as a meeting place. Everyone was back in their normal attire, with the excerptions of Aqua and Ven who still wore their new-found armor. Both Namine and Terra had taken the time to wash the blood off themselves, though Terra was virtually forced into one of the three rooms that made up the crew quarters. Apparently, when Nihlus had sent Sora, Riku and Kairi the gummi ship he hadn't anticipated his failure to take Sora's heart, and as such the ship had only a few snacks on board and three rooms. In short, they would soon need to get a new ship if the search for a way to restore the balance, or at least satisfy Nihlus and Shadow.

"Great, so can we head back to that Radiant Garden place to get some food and maybe take a nap or two?" Ven asked as he leaned against the wall closest to him. Nihlus rolled his eyes and muttered something that probably wasn't exactly G-rated at Ven's casualness. Granted, Ven was never responsible to begin with, but his complaints still did get on Nihlus's nerves.

"What were those things that attacked us back there?" Namine asked, ignoring Ven's question completely.

"They were some form of magic defense," Terra replied, "the magic that animated the suits of armor wasn't able to actually preserve the armor, though, and caused them to be weakened, if only slightly." Terra crossed his arms thoughtfully as he considered the attack. "It's strange, those things are meant to remain dormant until they are needed. Someone must have gone through the ruins before we did, causing them to activate and plan an ambush for us."

"Hey, now that you mention it two of the keyblades in the armory we found were missing…" Aqua said as she looked down at her own keyblade. She didn't have the faintest idea of the significance of the keyshaped weapons or understand why she and Ven were able to wield them, but if they enhanced her ability to fight, then she wasn't going to complain.

Terra suddenly jerked up at this on his face was an expression of shock, for he had taken off his helmet to get some fresh air. "What!" he gasped out, nearly jumping into the air. For the first time he seemed to actually notice the fact that Ven and Aqua had keyblades. "…May I hold them for a few seconds?" he asked after a slight pause. Clearly he was shaken by something, whether it was because Aqua and Ven now had keyblades or because someone had looted the chaser ruin was unknown to all but Terra.

Aqua and Ven hesitated for a moment, out of curiosity, but nevertheless handed Terra their keyblades. Terra stared at them for about two seconds when they suddenly disappeared and reappeared back in Aqua and Ven's hands, startling both of them. Terra's facial expression was impossible to read. He didn't seem upset or surprised; he just seemed to accept…something. What that something was escaped everyone's attention.

"So, they have chosen you," Terra said, though it seemed he was speaking to himself rather than Aqua and Ven, "Keep them close," was all he said before he walked over to the navigation computer. "The next ruin is on the world Port Royal."

"Hey, Sora, isn't that where you said that you met that pirate?" Riku asked referring to the infamous CAPTAIN Jack Sparrow.

Sora nodded eagerly in response. Jack may not be the most trustworthy guy around, but he was still Sora's friend, albeit a friend that he would have to keep an eye on at all times.

"Great, more waiting!" Aqua grumbled to herself. "Saaaaay, would any of you be up for a little combat practice?" Both Ven and Nihlus let out audible groans. They knew all too well that Aqua could be utterly insatiable when it came to getting stronger.

"I did it last time!" Nihlus declared crossing his arms. While he did enjoy a friendly spar with Aqua every now and then, the fact that she was turning into a very formidable battle mage made him less than eager to face her when she was going all out, she'd almost burnt his arm off last time!

"Yeah well I…uh…you can't do this to me!" Ven suddenly cried out in an exaggerated manner. He sighed in defeat and muttered something about Nihlus having to attend his funeral before he began to slink off behind an enthusiastic Aqua.

* * *

Riku watched as Sora and Kairi continued to discuss Sora's adventures. While Riku knew all the details of what had happened while Kairi was on the Destiny Islands, barely able to even remember Sora, Kairi didn't for obvious reasons. He knew that they both had…feelings, so to speak, for each other. Their problem lay in the fact that neither one of them was quite willing to open up and act on those feelings. While Riku wasn't a hopeless romantic, he did feel an inclination to nudge things along.

He was shaken out of his thought when he was approached by, of all people, Nihlus. "Hey, uh, Riku," he started nervously. It seemed that he hadn't entirely gotten used to addressing the keyblade masters so casually. "I just wanted to ask you something…that's alright with you, isn't it?"

Riku was mildly surprised at Nihlus's request, but nevertheless nodded. What harm could one question do? "Thanks…I was just wondering, when you let darkness into your heart, what were you planning to do after you had saved Kairi?" Riku was taken aback at Nihlus's question. It was bad enough being reminded of the time in which he was possessed by Xehanort's heartless and nearly killed his friends, a touchy subject to say the least, but there was also the fact that he had never really considered what he was going to do if everything had worked out the way he had intended.

"Well, I guess I was planning to just start exploring the worlds like Sora, Kairi, and I had originally planned to do back on the Destiny Islands." Riku replied uncertainty. He really didn't know what was going through his mind when it was being influenced by the darkness. If Nihlus was aware of the uncertainty in Riku's voice, he didn't show it. He seemed too busy contemplating Riku's answer to really notice anything else.

"…I see…thank you for that, Riku." Nihlus said as he turned around. Suddenly a loud yelp was heard followed by the sound of Aqua yelling for Ven to "Stop running away!". Immediately after that came the sound of small explosions as well as Roxas's voice protesting the whole affair, he and Namine had gone into the cargo bay as well in order for Namine to practice casting magic. Nihlus let out a groan and began muttering as he walked briskly in the direction of the cargo bay to fix whatever mess Ven and Aqua had made, allowing Riku to return to his thoughts. Out of the entire group only he and Terra truly knew just how fragile the truce with Nihlus was. It had only been called because of Nihlus's desire to save his friends, and now it was only sustained because he didn't want to have to kill Sora in order to correct the supposed imbalance between light and darkness. Those who sided with darkness always had some noble ideal that wound up being twisted and used to seed chaos and destruction throughout the worlds. Personally, Riku didn't truly believe there was an imbalance, but if there was a way to prove that to Nihlus, then it might not be impossible for the entire affair to end without killing him, as unpleasant as it would be.

Riku let out a sigh as these thoughts ran through his mind. He knew exactly the kinds of traps that the darkness used to enslave those who let it into their hearts, and Nihlus was repeating all the mistakes he had made a year ago.

'_Shadow may really care about him, but who's to say that he isn't being used either?'_

* * *

The trip had gone without further incident, as far as Sora could tell. Nihlus had apparently managed to straighten out whatever had happened in the cargo hold, but he hadn't actually come out of it until it was time to disembark and only then with a slight limp before he was fully healed by Shadow. Apparently, the training was going along quite well. As it turns out, Nihlus had decided to loan Namine his staff as an unofficial favor to Roxas, at least until she got her own weapon.

As they left the gummi ship, which they had hidden just outside of Port Royal, Sora looked sideways at Terra to see the chaser's so-called "casual clothing". The outfit composed of baggy, light brown pants, a black T-shirt with red suspenders going diagonally across it, and some kind of gold lined arm guard that covered his left arm. Although it was a far cry from what the natives of Port Royal normally wore it was no worse than what everyone else was wearing (meaning their normal outfits). Aqua and Ven too had taken off their chaser armor, thought judging from the glares that Aqua and Nihlus were shooting each other, it was clear that Nihlus's wounds may not have been merely the result of him ending a rather violent (and one sided) argument between Aqua and Ven.

"So, Terra, you think the ruin is somewhere in Port Royal?" Kairi asked in an attempt to both start up a conversation and stop Nihlus and Aqua from getting each other psyched up. From their looks alone it was clear that they would most likely try to beat the living hell out of each other. While it may have been an acceptable, if somewhat disturbing, habit of theirs when they were just normal teenagers now that they both possessed power, the result of a "friendly sparing match that let's us get everything out" could be the destruction of all life in a five mile radius. Granted it was an exaggeration, but according to Ven and Nihlus's side of the story, the keyblade and possibly the armor had amplified Aqua's already formidable spell casting abilities.

"Yes and no," Terra responded to Kairi's question as he lead the group down a crud forest path that would take them to the gates of the wall that surrounded Port Royal. "The records were very vague about the one here. I have a few ideas as to where it might be, but we may as well see if the townspeople know anything. Besides, it will give Sora a chance to meet up with an old friend or two." At this a grin materialized on Terra's face. He had read the Royal chronicles written by Jiminy Cricket on this world, they were interesting to say the least.

"Oh really?" Ven started in a nervous tone as Aqua and Nihlus's death glares seemed to intensify. It looked like they were daring each other into making the first move. "Well, that sounds really cool, Terra. What kind of world is this anyways is it like some kind of ancient Chinese village?" Sora momentarily stopped in his tracks. China was what Mulan had called her world, how could Ven know anything about it? Before he could ask, Terra signaled for them to stop. Ahead was a one story high wall with a gate guarded by two sentries. The two soldiers were dressed in redcoats and held bayoneted muskets at their sides. Regardless, they didn't look very threatening or intimidating.

"Halt!" the one on the left ordered as he held up his free hand in order to reinforce his demand. "Who are you and what is your business here?" The guard's voice was heavy with suspicion. Not only was the group of people standing before him dressed in strange clothes, but three of them, a blonde boy who looked identical to another member of the group, a blue haired girl, and a black haired boy with golden colored eyes, were shooting him and his fellow looks of disbelief. The fact that the blue haired girl and the black haired boy seemed about to kill each other only a few seconds ago added to his suspicions as well.

"We are…colonists," Terra said recalling what he could about Port Royal's history. He was no expert on it, but he did recall that the world was in the middle of some kind of huge effort to colonize a continent or something along those lines. He didn't see the point though, it was likely that the colonies would just die off, causing everyone to forget that they had ever discovered the new continent in the first place.

"Hmph, colonists my eye!" the guard spat as he raised his musket and pointed it at Terra's head. "John, get the captain!" The guard yelled to his fellow who jumped to obey. "By the powers vested in me by Lord Becket, I hereby place you under arrest for detainment and questioning." The annoyed tone the soldier said this with indicated it was, at best, an unwanted formality. Nihlus took this opportunity to step forward so that his and the guard's shadow were intermixed, thanks to the sun.

"Whoa, hold it!" the guard named John called out as he stepped next to his comrade with his musket pointed at Nihlus's forehead.

"What? I was just taking a step forward to stretch my legs," Nihlus said with as much innocence as he could muster. At first Sora was wondering what he was trying to accomplish when he suddenly saw the unnamed guard's shadow flicker for a moment. Shadow seemed to emerge from the sentry's shadow, grinning when the two guards hadn't caught on to his presence. Just when the two realized something was up due to the smirk Nihlus wore on his face and the surprised expressions of everyone else, Shadow beat them both over the head with his fists, which he had taken the liberty of morphing into oversized hammers.

"Well, Nihlus, it seems you owe me yet another favor!" Shadow said as the two guards crumpled to the ground, unconscious. "I'm going to have to collect on it later…" Nihlus rolled his eyes and muttered something to himself, only to have Shadow exclaim "Yeah right, you wouldn't last five minutes without me!" Quickly recovering form their shock, Riku and Roxas dragged the guards away from the gate, hiding them behind some bushes. They then allowed Kairi and Sora to freeze them in place, not enough to seriously injure them, but enough to make sure that they wouldn't be in any condition to tell anyone anything for quite awhile even after the ice had melted. Nihlus winced in sympathy; he knew exactly how bad being even partially frozen could be.

"Hey, come on, they deserved it!" Ven declared as he admired Sora and Kairi's handiwork. Nihlus simply grunted in response as Kairi and Sora unsummoned their keyblades.

"If we're going to do this quickly," Terra said as he walked up to the town's gate, "we had best split up…"

* * *

"Uh, sir?" Sora asked as he waved his hand in front of the face of the owner of the smithy that Riku, Kairi, and he had entered. They had split up in the same groups that they had when they went into the chaser ruin. Roxas seemed almost inseparable from Namine after she was nearly killed in the ruin, and Terra too seemed to have some guilt over his inability to protect her, though it was much lesser when compared to Roxas's. The same could be said about Nihlus, Aqua, and Ven as well. Whatever Nihlus and Aqua were angry at each other for had apparently been dropped, much to Ven's relief. All three groups had headed in different directions to gather information, Namine, Roxas, and Terra headed for the docks, while Aqua, Nihlus and Ven had decided to go to an inn/brothel in hopes of hearing some kind of helpful gossip or rumor.

This particular smithy happened to be the one Will worked at before his adventure with Sora and Jack Sparrow (A/N: I know I know, CAPTAIN Jack Sparrow). The strange thing was that he wasn't here, and the owner seemed to be a dead drunk, unable to even answer Sora's question about whether or not Will even worked here anymore.

"Sora, it's not working," Riku stated matter of factly as Sora tried snapping his fingers in front of the drunk's face. "You'd need an earthquake to wake this bum!" Sora sighed and stepped back to examine the drunkard in the chair before him. Riku was right; simply yelling in the guy's ear wasn't getting anywhere.

"I think I have an idea…" Kairi said mischievously as she walked up next to Sora, who gaped in realization when she summoned her keyblade.

"Wait, Kairi, don't!" He cried out as a small ice spell stuck the drunkard on the chest, knocking him and his chair backward. Kairi wore a triumphant smile as the drunken man stumbled to his feet, unaware of how his shirt had gotten so soaked.

"Uh, musta' spilled me' drink!" the owner of the smithy said to himself as he examined the empty bottle of what was presumed to have been rum. "Oh, ugh, what can I do fer ya'?" the man asked, swaying slightly form side to side. Sora breathed a mental sigh of relief as Kairi shot him a "I told you so grin". She had had the prudence to use an exceptionally weak spell so that the ice melted as soon as it hit the man.

"We're looking for Will Turner; we're old friends of his!" The man looked at Sora, Kairi and Riku curiously for a few seconds, but then shook his head and opened his mouth to answer the brunette standing in front of him. The darn rum was making him see the three as strangely dressed teenagers!

"Will?" the owner of the smithy responded as he tried to gather his thoughts. "Oh, he married the governor's daughter a day ago!" While Riku and Kairi were surprised by this news, Sora was totally flabbergasted.

"Wow, that's so…romantic!" Kairi exclaimed, hesitating to use the word romantic due to the fact that she didn't think it was quite the proper word to use.

"Why are you surprised, Sora?" Riku said with a hint of a smirk forming on his lips. "You did say that Elizabeth and Will were very close…" Sora turned to Riku with a look only that he could have made. Sora's expression was halfway between shock and one of his trademark smiles, the result was that he looked absolutely ridiculous.

"Sora…your face!" Kairi said in-between laughs as she vied Sora's facial expression. It was amazing how he could make her laugh without even trying. Riku too burst out in laughter, but he was able to better handle it than Kairi, who was having to put her hands just above her knees in order to remain standing.

Sora grinned sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his head with his right hand. The sound of his friends laughing made him as happy as they were right now. "Well, let's head back to the gate and meet up with everyone else!" Kairi exclaimed as she finally began to regain her breathe.

Sora and Riku nodded in reply, the gate was where they had agreed to meet up after they were done with the information collecting. They turned and left Will's former boss to whatever it was he did when he wasn't smithing. Although he was a drunkard, he had to have possessed some skill at blacksmithing; otherwise he wouldn't have had the shop in the first place!

As soon as they reached the gate, they could see Terra, Roxas, and Namine approaching them, apparently they had finished their information gathering as well. "We weren't able to find out anything useful, apart form the fact that some kook named Lord Becket came and about a day ago with a whole lot of these soldiers," Roxas said, anticipating Sora's question.

"He also ruined someone's wedding!" Namine quickly added with a slight hint of anger in her voice. While Namine appeared delicate, naïve, and even helpless at times, that was all just an illusion. Like Kairi, she could prove quite formidable if something got her motivated enough, though it usually took a great deal more to get her there than it did for her auburn haired counter part.

"Yes, whoever it was he arrested must have been very important," Terra said as he moved his right hand up to his chin in thought "It caused quite a stir among the people here. Whoever this Lord Becket is, he must be very confident to have been so reckless." Sora could have sworn that his heart skipped a beat when he heard this.

_'Could he mean Will and Elizabeth?!_' Sora thought with rising horror. Apparently Sora's horror had shown on his face, prompting Kairi to feel understandably concerned over her brown haired friend.

"Hey, Sora, are you alight?" Her concern was blatantly obvious. Sora turned to answer her when Riku let out an "Uh oh…" Curious Sora and Kairi broke off their eye contact to see what held Riku's attention. Aqua, Nihlus and Ven were walking toward them, but it was clear that not all had gone well for them. Aqua was so angry with something that every step she took was practically a stomp and the scowl on her face would make even Xehanort's heartless cringe. Nihlus too seemed furious over something, but he didn't blatantly show it like Aqua did. He simply had a piercing glare and his movements seemed abnormally quick and forceful. Meanwhile, Ven was wiping a tear of laughter off his face, whatever happened had been amusing to him, apparently.

"I hate this place!" Aqua growled out as she approached Sora and co.

"Why, what happened?" Roxas asked with an eyebrow raised. It must have been pretty bad to get both Aqua and Nihlus this mad.

"One of the men at the bar said some…things that he may have thought to be compliments, but I found to be…insulting." Nihlus's glare seemed to intensify as he balled his hands into fists and began to mutter about "ripping that bastard's heart out". Ven burst into another round of laughs at this while everyone, excluding Terra, Nihlus, and Aqua, blushed at the realization at the kinds of things that the inn's patron must have said.

"Uh, guys, if you could get a grip of your hormones, I think you'll find that we have company!" Shadow's voice whispered just loud enough for everyone to hear. A company of the red coated soldiers was approaching the company, and they didn't look very happy.

"You there!" the leader of the soldiers called out, pointing at the entire group, "You're under arrest for assaulting two of my men!" at this the squad of soldiers all aimed their muskets at Sora and co.

"Those weapons have terrible aim and it takes like five minutes to reload each shot," Ven muttered loud enough for everyone except the soldiers to hear. "We can take 'em, there's only ten of them." Sora nodded, not waiting to formulate a plan of some kind; if Will and Elizabeth were in danger then he didn't have time to waste.

"Hey, why did you guys arrest the two people who were getting married!" Namine yelled, her fiery side arising. One of the soldiers began to aim specifically for her at this, only to have Roxas stand protectively in front of her, glaring furiously at the soldier in question. He was sorely tempted to just summon oathkeeper and oblivion so that he could wipe these soldiers who dared to threaten Namine off the face of this world, something he could do almost without effort.

"We had our orders!" the captain shot back at Namine, he was clearly not used to having his authority challenged. "Those two helped a pirate and are now rotting in the jail where they belong!"

"Huh? I heard that the Elizabeth lady escaped and Lord Becket let the Turner chap go in exchange for something. I think he took a boat to Tortuga!" one of the soldiers stated blankly.

"Extra guard duty for you, Thomas!" Apparently, the guard captain hadn't been pleased by Lord Becket's decision to let Will and Elizabeth go. Sora calmly advanced toward the group of guards and summoned his keyblade, causing all Hell to break loose.

With a startled cry of "fire!" the soldiers sent a barrage of bullets at both Sora and his comrades, only to have them all deflected by a very large reflega shield, the result of Kairi, Aqua, Namine, and Sora combining their magical power. Sora surged forth taking the captain down in a single stroke before moving on to the soldier closest to him. Sora saw Nihlus join the fray as well, tackling one of the soldiers with a nearly inhuman speed and then ripping at him with heartless claws. Despite the ferocity of his attack, Nihlus seemed like he was only trying to wound the soldier, not kill him.

Soon everyone else joined the brawl as well. Kairi slashed her enemy's musket in two when the soldier tried to impale her, and then finished him with a strike to the side of the head. Roxas and Namine worked together in perfect harmony, their fighting styles greatly complementing eachother's. WhileRoxas possessed no knowledge of magic beyond he expert control of elemental light attacks, his element when he was still in organization thirteen, he surpassed even Sora in terms of close combat ability. Namine too surpassed her former self at something while losing in another category. She was an exceptional white mage, both literally and in terms of her combat role.

Namine was capable of healing even the most terrible of wounds and making the strongest of shields, and while she may not have favored offensive magic such as fire and lightning, her ability to wield light equaled, if not surpassed, Roxas's. It only took a few seconds for the fight to end, the soldiers were woefully inferior to the sheer power and ability of the keyblade wielders, as well as Namine and Nihlus who were the only one's who didn't have keyblades. "Oi, stop them!" came a distant cry, followed by the sounds of a huge number of soldiers running in their directions.

"We can't stay here and fight them all day!" Aqua exclaimed.

Terra nodded in agreement. "Everyone, run!" Unfortunately, the chaser had made one slight miscalculation. While the logical thing to do was run back to the gummi ship, Sora, Kairi, Ven, and Nihlus all ran deeper into town, misinterpreting what Terra meant. They all, for their separate reasons believed their business in town wasn't finished yet. While, Terra, Riku, Aqua, Roxas, and Namine went back through the gates, they ran deeper into Port Royal.

"This way!" Nihlus yelled as he ran ahead of everyone else in their attempts to escape from the guards. He had an idea of a perfect hiding spot from which they could regroup. Several bullets hit the earth around Sora, Kairi, Ven, and Nihlus as they made a mad dash for wherever the dark champion was leading them.

"See? I told you those weapons had terrible aim!" Ven said in between huffs as he ran.

* * *

Lord Becket's soldiers desperately tried to keep up with the four miscreants that had caused so much trouble. The fact that the entire group had split up delayed them for a bit before they decided to ignore the criminals that ran into the jungle outside of the port. There was no way they could hunt anyone down in there, especially not in the red coats they wore, which would make them stick out more than a sore thumb in the lush green of the trees and bushes.

They had discovered the criminals' crime of assault during the changing of the guard when they discovered their frozen comrades. The four strangely dressed fugitives suddenly ran down an alleyway as soon as they reached the part of town near the docks. The guards immediately followed, only to see a small wall. It was obvious that the four criminals had climbed over it and emerged on the other side. "Quickly, we have no time to waste!" the guard captain cried out to the soldiers under his command.

If he had looked a little closer, he would have seen markings along the walls of the two buildings that formed the alleyway. It looked as if someone or something had thrust itself into the walls in an attempt to scale the buildings…

Sora breathed deeply as he held Kairi in an embrace on the roof. Nihlus, Ven Kairi, and he had managed to evade the guards by gliding/double jumping up to the roof. Kairi hadn't quite learned how to double jump or glide yet, those tow things took experience with a keyblade. Sora couldn't simply teach her how to do either instantly. Nihlus had grabbed Ven with a small tentacle and then got Shadow to hoist him up to the rooftop.

In order to remain hidden, they had to lay down on the rooftop least the soldiers spot them. Sora took in the smell of Kairi's hair, it was pleasant, and the smell was that of strawberry. Whatever shampoo she was using really did its job. Sora remembered simply grabbing her and then jumping and then climbing up onto the rooftop. He could feel her breathing deeply against him; she was just as tense as he was. And yet, despite the fact that they were running for their lives, he found himself wishing that this moment could go on forever, it just felt…good.

Judging from the fact that she didn't tense up or jerk away, it seemed that Kairi felt the exact same way. Normally, they would be hugely embarrassed by the current intimacy of their bodies, but right now they were in their own little world…

"Well, don't you two look lovely?" Shadow and Ven tauntingly asked at the exact same time. Instantly Sora and Kairi scooted away from each other and sat upright, their faces were both almost totally red from embarrassment. "I base my sense of humor off yours," Shadow explained when he saw Ven about to ask about the conspicuous timing of Shadow's teasing. "I never could fully understand your hormone driven responses to girls, though."

"Knock it off you two!" Nihlus demanded trying to restore order to the group. "What do we do next? I'm out of ideas." While Ven and Shadow got a kick out of teasing Sora and Kairi about their…emotions regarding each other, emotions they had yet to properly express, Nihlus didn't. It was against his nature and then there the other, much more personal reason for him not tolerating Ven and Shadow making fun of the few moments when Sora and Kairi's affections became obvious…

"W-we need to get a boat to Tortuga to find Will," Sora replied, still red faced from his experience with Kairi.

"Right, so all we have to do is "borrow" a boat…by borrow I mean hijack and steal, but you know what I mean," Ven said as he moved to a more comfortable position on the roof.

'_Hey, Nihlus, are you alright?'_ Shadow telepathically asked.

'_Yeah, I'm just worried about the others…'_

'_Don't worry! Ven alone could have taken those chumps! What chance do they have against everyone else combined? And that's assuming those redcoats even bothered to_ _chase them.'_

Nihlus let a small grin materialize on his face as he nodded.

"Okay, just let me catch my breath and we'll get a move on!" Ven declared as he laid down on the roof. It wouldn't be long before Sora could meet up with the infamous pirate, Jack Sparrow, once more…

* * *

Alright, first I want to say ignore the author note at the top. I was just suffering from my lack of confidence again. It's a bit of a pain at time as I sometimes wind up in the dumps because of it, but it does inspire me to improve and stops me from getting arrogant! Anyway, soon, Sora and Kairi are finally going to be able to openly express their feelings for each other!

I've always felt that by the end of KH2 they acknowledged their feelings for each other, but have yet to muster the courage to openly express them. That's going to change in the next chapter or two, heheheheheheheh….


	16. Ch15: All Aboard the Black Pearl

Notes: Alright guys, I have spring break now, which means I can spend the entire week writing the new chapters! That should make you guys happy, try not to fall behind! Anyway, since I still have some room left, I've decided I might as well talk about what the couples in this story are going to be like.

Roxas and Namine, I've always imagined as being kind of like a princess and her knight (a princess that can kick butt if she wants to, but a princess nevertheless). So, they're going to be more open with their feelings than anyone else, but less…ah, what's the word? Passionate, extreme? Well, just don't expect them to be making out in public or anything.

Kairi and Sora are going to be a bit more of a normal couple, and while they won't be making out in public like some other fics have them…(thinks of the countless over the top romance fics) they will still be quite open and more, er, romantic then Roxas and Namine.

As for Aqua and Nihlus…well, they're relationship can be summed up in this short exchange…

Aqua: Nihlus, you're a moron! (Blushing from some embarrassing event)

Nihlus: …It was your own fault! You ran into me! (Blushes as well)

Ven: Hey, sorry to interrupt the love fest, but-

Both Nihlus and Aqua: LOVE FEST! (Look away from each other blushing even more, not that that was possible…) VEN SHUT UP!!

So in short, they have the most conflict filled relationship out of everyone, but not just because of the way they fight...the changes Nihlus undergoes because of the darkness within him, as well as his own personality mean that they will also take the longest to express their feelings to each other.

Ven: What the hell did you do to Riku?

Me: Oh, him? Well, he got a little…violent after the disclaimer so I invited a few (meaning all) of his fan girls to spend some quality time with him…

Ven: …Lucky bastard!

Me: Oh really? I think he was in a vegetive state the last time I saw him…anyway, start doing the disclaimer!

Ven: Nope (grins slyly) I guess you'll just have to sic the fan girls on me…

Me: Ven, I doubt you have any fan girls; the video game you're in hasn't even come out yet! In fact, the only girl I've seen drawings of you being with is Aqua (you know the fan drawings on deviant art) and I doubt she'd react very well to your attempts to flirt. Now, unless you do the disclaimer, I'll have you screaming like a little girl when the kraken come to kill everyone…and the fan girls hate wimpy people, why do you think Riku's so popular?

Ven: Hm, that bit about Aqua was…disturbing, but since you put the whole fan girl thing that way, I'll do it! Blackrogue123 doesn't own anything or anyone other than the stuff he comes up with…now bring in the fan girls! (gets beaten in the back of the head by Aqua)

Nihlus: Wow, that was a good one…actually; I think that's a new record!

Aqua: Heh, thanks, Nihlus! (Starts to drag the unconscious Ven away)

* * *

"Aqua, please calm down," Namine said in a calm tone.

"I'll calm down when you get these two bastards to let me go!" Aqua yelled back as she struggled fruitlessly against Roxas and Riku while they kept her arms pinned behind her back.

"Aqua, your friends will be fine, you know very well that they can take care of themselves against those soldiers" Terra stated as he too tried to calm Aqua down. They didn't notice that Ven, Kairi, Sora, and Nihlus had somehow been separated from them until they actually reached the gummis ship. When Aqua found out, she went ballistic and would have blindly charged off back into the middle of Port Royal if Riku and Roxas hadn't stopped her. Right now, they were just on the loading ramp of the gummi ship.

Even Roxas and Riku weren't able to drag Aqua into it against her will, not without knocking her unconscious anyway. "You want me to calm down?!" Aqua yelled in outrage as she continued to struggle against Riku and Roxas. "My friends are in danger and you're telling me to just take it easy?!"

"I'm sure Nihlus can defeat any of the soldiers who try to stop him…" Terra had an idea forming in the back of his mind as he said this. "Even if they proved too much for him, Sora and Kairi are there as well." The chaser hadn't mentioned Ven on the grounds that he had yet to see his abilities in combat. Aqua stopped struggling when she heard this, much to both Roxas and Riku's relief.

Suddenly she snapped out of it and began to fight once more, though not nearly as hard had before. "Hey, I'm concerned about the others too!"

"Aqua, there's nothing wrong with being concerned with Nihlus in particular." Namine said gently. Her tone made it impossible to tell whether she was genuinely trying to comfort Aqua or if it was a veiled tease. Namine's caring nature tended to point to the former, however. At last, Aqua seemed to finally stop trying to fight, prompting Roxas and Riku to tentatively release her; though they both stood ready to stop her in case she tried anything.

"…Hey, I'm not that concerned about him!" Aqua replied to Namine in a huff as she turned to enter the gummi ship. "He's just a moron at times…that's all."

"Of course…" A small, possibly sly, grin snuck across Namine's face as she said this. Somehow, she doubted Aqua really considered Nihlus to be a complete idiot that rushed off blindly into fights.

"So, Terra, what's the plan?" Riku asked as he turned towards the chaser.

"For now, the others will have to fend for themselves," Terra replied as Roxas, Riku, and he walked up the ramp, followed closely by Namine.

"Yeah, Sora's been to this world before, so they should be fi-!" Roxas was suddenly cut off when his foot caught on some kind of metal object and he feel forward. He felt someone grab his hand in an attempt to stop him from falling, but the blond haired nobody was already off-balance and only succeeded in dragging the person down with him. Roxas turned in mid air to see that the person who tried to stop his fall was Namine and that he had apparently tripped over some kind of metal boot.

Because of his turn, Namine landed on top of Roxas. Out of reflex his arms wrapped around her before he realized just what was happening. "R-roxas?" Namine stuttered when she felt his "hug". Almost immediately Roxas let go, and quickly got off the floor as soon as Namine had gotten off of him. Both nobodies were understandably red faced as a result of this unfortunate accident (though whether they really considered it to be unfortunate was easily debatable).

"Um…I…sorry…" Roxas apologized awkwardly as he looked down at his feet, unable to look Namine in the eye after what had just transpired. He could have sworn he heard the sound of Riku chuckling. Roxas couldn't help but wonder if something like this had ever happened with Sora and Kairi. Granted, he doubted he could turn to Sora for advice…wait, advice! What was he thinking!

"Aqua, could you explain why your armor is laying in the middle of the floor?" Terra asked with only a hint of irritation in his voice. Inwardly, Roxas sighed in relief. He wasn't sure if the chaser was changing the subject because he didn't care about what had just happened, or because he had enough tact to not tease Roxas and Namine in the slightest.

"Huh?" Aqua spun around. She had originally been planning to just head to one of the three crew quarter rooms to have some alone time and possibly take a nap. "What are you talking about? When I took the armor off, I put it in my room."

Terra frowned at Aqua's response. "Then why is it laying in the floor? Roxas and Namine both tripped over it, and unless it just got up and walked about on it's own, then you must have left it in the floor."

Aqua seemed taken aback as she walked over to the armor, with raised eyes. The first thought to mind was the fact that she KNEW that she had left her armor in her room and the second thought was actually made of two parts. How was it possible for two people to trip over the same thing, and why were Roxas and Namine so red faced if they had just tripped? Granted, tripping was pretty embarrassing, but it wasn't anything worth looking like a walking tomato over!

Aqua simply mumbled to herself as she picked up the pieces of her chaser armor, it was probably just one of Ven's pranks to make her look like a moron.

"Odd, Aqua doesn't strike me as the kind of person who would just leave her armor laying in the floor like that," Terra commented when Aqua, Roxas and Namine had left the room.

Riku shrugged in reply. "It doesn't really matter. Oh, you never answered my question, what are we going to do now?"

Terra walked over to the gummi ship control and typed several commands into the computer before her responded. "As I said before, there were several very likely locations that the ruin may be in. We may as well investigate them now." Riku nodded at Terra's answer. Sora and Kairi would be fine; there couldn't possibly be a thing on this world capable of laying even one finger on them.

Riku walked back toward where the crew quarters were, he wasn't totally sure where Roxas and Namine went, so it was possible that he would be able to claim one of the two rooms that Aqua hadn't been using.

Riku stopped put his ear against one of the three rooms' door. He could hear Roxas saying something, and then Namine replying. Wasn't able to make out the precise words, but Riku did get the impression that Roxas was trying to apologize for the "incident" that happened about a minute ago. The silver haired keyblade master wore a sly grin as he entered the one, unoccupied room. He couldn't wait to see Roxas's facial expression when the nobody realized what was going on…

* * *

Sora let out a sigh of contentment as he smelled the sea air. The "borrowing" of the small ship that Ven, Nihlus, Kairi, and he were sailing on went quite well. It had been on easy matter fro Nihlus to slip onto the deck (having complete control over darkness had really helped in sneaking around) in order to see whether or not anyone was actually onboard the rather small vessel.

At first, Sora and Kairi had been somewhat reluctant to actually steal the ship, but they had been talked out of their reluctance by Ven who simply said that they would return it…eventually. Regardless, the fact that it had apparently been commandeered by the red coated soldiers (or at least that's what Nihlus claimed after he overheard a conversation between the two guards, who "dealt with") also helped to soothe both Kairi and Sora's guilty conscious.

It had been an easy manner for them to actually slip out of the port without undue attention; all they had to do was raise the British flag and the patrol ships left them alone, not even bothering to give the hijacked ship a second glance.

Sora snapped out of his musings when he heard Nihlus grunt in frustration. He turned to see the champion of darkness stumbling in an attempt o maintain his grip on the helm. While Sora and Kairi had "sea legs" as the expression went, Nihlus had yet to get used to the rocking of the ship. Ven had been able to take it in stride and Shadow, who had taken physical form, was completely immune to it due to his shape shifting abilities. The latter two were currently below the deck, talking about something only God could know.

"Hey, Sora," Kairi called out as she stepped up beside him as he looked out at the horizon. "It's been awhile since we've been able to talk one on one, huh?"

"Uh, yeah," Sora replied with a hint of nervousness as he leaned on the railing while looking out of the corner of his eye at Nihlus. To his relief, the black armored darkness wielder seemed to be completely ignoring him and Kairi. "Actually, I don't think we've really been able to talk like this since we were trying to build that raft."

Kairi nodded as a smile broke out on her face. "Yeah…a lot's changed since then; just look at you and Riku!"

Sora and Kairi both broke out in chuckles (or technically giggles in Kairi's case) as they remembered what Riku had said about nothing having changed before they received the letter that Nihlus had evidently forged when he was trying to steal Sora's heart. "Well, at least I haven't!" Sora exclaimed brightly as he remembered the conversation that he and Kairi had before the heartless had claimed the Destiny Islands.

Kairi let out another pleasant giggle at Sora when he said this. "No Sora, you've changed alright…just in a good way…" She turned to face Sora, as they made eye contact the sun's light seemed to reflect off her hair.

For once, Sora was truly taken by how beautiful Kairi looked. While he had always though she looked beautiful, whether or not he admitted it, she truly looked like some kind of angel to him right now. "Kairi…" he said breathlessly as they stared at each other. Slowly, Sora raised his hand and put it against her cheek, brushing aside a stray piece of hair in the process.

"Sora…" Kairi responded as she placed her hand over his. They both began to lean toward each other, closing their eyes as they did so, and with their free arms wrapping themselves around each others bodies they were about to share one of he most tender moments of their entire lives. Sora could feel his heart beating like a drum as Kairi and his lips were just a few inches apart…

"Hey, we've reached Tortuga!" Nihlus suddenly yelled, snapping Sora and Kairi back into reality. Blushing furiously they both quickly backed away from each other, looking away in embarrassment. While both Sora and Kairi were mentally berating themselves for losing control like that, they couldn't deny the fact that deep down they had really wanted to go on.

_'What was I thinking?! Kairi's my best friend…well, okay, she's more than a friend but…damn it!'_ Sora thought angrily. He couldn't help but feel a wave of irritation and anger at Nihlus for his incredibly bad timing. Both Sora and Kairi shot Nihlus death glares, but only got a surprised "What?" expression in reply.

"Aw, come on, Nihlus! Shadow was just getting to the best part!" Ven complained furiously as he stuck his head out from below deck.

Sora irritably rolled his eyes as he and Kairi turned to face each other, though they both looked down at their feet. "Kairi…I, uh…" Sora stuttered, unable to think of anything to say after what had just transpired.

"Y-yeah, I know…" Kairi replied, as embarrassed as the brunette before her. "Maybe…some other time…" she said in so low a voice that Sora almost didn't hear her. It was as if she wasn't quite sure if she really wanted to say those words. Regardless, both of the keyblade masters were thankful that they were looking down a the ground, otherwise their now totally flushed faces would have been more visible than a neon sign in the realm of darkness.

"Stop fooling around and-!" Nihlus wasn't able to finish his sentence as he accidentally tripped and fell when he let go of the helm and advanced toward Ven, only to lose his balance and hit the deck. He had, mainly because of Sora and Kairi, been convinced not to use his powers to make spikes or tentacles to support him onboard the ship since doing so would result in holes being made when ever he would take a step.

"Don't…say…a word…" Nihlus hissed as he peeled his face from off the deck.

"Will Turner? 'Jah, my brotha' and I took him to some island to find a ship with black sails just a little while ago," a man Sora, Ven, and Kairi happened to stumble upon at Tortuga's docks said in a Jamaican accent. Nihlus had more or less volunteered to stay behind and guard the ship, partially out of the fact that he was very uncomfortable around "normal" people (apparently his eyes had caused more than a few violent incidents in the past) and partially because he had noticed that Sora and Kairi were furious at him for something he must have done or said. What that something escaped Nihlus, however.

"Great, can you take us there too?" Sora asked, his eagerness was practically oozing of him. The man seemed to ponder the request for a few seconds before he made up his mind.

"Well, I already have all da' pork dat I need right now… but I suppose I could use a little more, if you'd be willing to pay a small fee." Sora grumbled to himself a he dug around in his pocket to get some of his munny out. He quickly showed a handful of the golden orbs to the Jamaican man, who's eyes seemed to widen at the sight of the munny. While it was actually a small amount, gold seemed to be much more valuable to the inhabitants of Port Royal as the man only took a brief second to bite one of the orbs to make sure it was real and then ran off excitedly to get his brother.

"Wow, I didn't think we'd find someone that could take us to Will that quickly!" Kairi commented as the trio began to head back to their commandeered ship to get Nihlus.

"Heh, well it was probably due to my innate charm and good looks…my red hair tend to have that effect on people you know!" Ven cheerfully said as he walked in between Sora and Kairi, grinning cheesily.

"Um, Ven, you're not a redhead anymore…" Sora said as tactfully as possible. Apparently, Ven still hadn't quite gotten used to looking like a carbon copy of Roxas just yet.

"Oh…yeah…I forgot about that." Ven's voice held a note of bitterness as he trudged along. "Well, I still look good! That Namine girl thinks so and she's not exactly an old hag either!"

* * *

"Is everyone ready?" Terra asked as he surveyed Roxas, Namine, and Riku. Both Roxas and Namine shot Riku embarrassed glares at his little prank. While it had given time for Roxas to apologize for the whole "Namine falling on top of him thing" and Namine to show Roxas her latest work in progress, a picture of the entire gang (including Nihlus, Aqua, and Ven) posing together, there was still the fact that Riku was intentionally trying to embarrass them.

It wasn't that they didn't mind spending time with each other; in fact they really did enjoy it, it was just the idea of being the butt of a joke that got on their nerves. "Wait, where's Aqua?" Namine asked in an attempt to change the subject of the unspoken argument.

"Oh, I think she said that she was just getting her armor on," Riku replied as he motioned in the direction of the crew quarters. Suddenly a hurried series of footfalls was heard as a rather flustered Aqua came running in wearing her chaser armor.

"Sorry, it's just that this thing can be a little hard to get on!" Terra raised an eyebrow in amusement at Aqua's remark.

"Yes, I remember having trouble getting my own suit of armor on as well when I first received it!" At this several rather embarrassing memories began to enter Terra's mind. "Just don't try to force it and you'll be fine."

"Uh, thanks…I guess." Aqua replied nervously has she put her hand against the back of her helmet. "Well, at least I've gotten used to the whole keyblade summoning thing!" To illustrate her point Aqua summoned her still unnamed keyblade into her right hand. Riku raised his eyebrow in amusement at Aqua apparently getting over the surprise of her keyblade appearing in her hands whenever she summoned it. In Riku's opinion, she had gotten over it during her last argument with Nihlus.

She had stopped cussing at the keyblade and started yelling at Nihlus.

"So, you think that this is where the ruin is?" Riku asked with a tone of amusement.

"It might be, there are several other places I had in mind and they are all just as likely as the rest."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Roxas asked with a faint grin as he stepped toward the ramp and turned around to face everyone. "Let's go!"

* * *

"I can't believe that guy!" Ven yelled in an attempt to voice his frustration. The Jamaican man's brother had taken them about halfway from the boat to the island where the Black Pearl was before he stopped rowing and insisted that Sora, Kairi, Ven, and Nihlus swim the rest of the way. "I'm wearing white and he wants me to swim! I bet he's a closeted gay!"

"Ven, will you please stop whining…preferably before I have to take extreme measures," Nihlus warned in a dangerously low voice. Although he too was irritated by having to swim, he was a bit more upset with the fact that Sora had paid the Jamaican man with munny that he had undoubtedly gotten from slain heartless. It was ironic actually, while Nihlus commanded every single heartless in existence, he was dirt poor despite all the munny they had on them due to the fact that he believed asking them to give it to him (which they would happily do as they had no use for it) would be stealing.

"Ah…well, you know, it's really not that bad! I'm not a girl, and my clothes (even though they technically belong to that Roxas guy) aren't actually see through…yet!"

Nihlus rolled his eyes as he followed Sora and Kairi up to the Black Pearl, trying to get Ven to shut up was about as easy as convincing a heartless that Sora wouldn't kill it if it appeared in his general vicinity!

"So, is this the Black Pearl?" Kairi asked as she looked around at the infamous ship. It really didn't look like much despite its reputation.

"Yep, positive!" Sora said as he too looked around. The memories of his adventures with Will and Jack began to enter his mind.

"Huh, Nihlus wha-?" Ven started only to be silenced with a wave from Nihlus, who mouthed "Shadow" to him as a means of explanation. Before he could go into anymore details, two clawed arms burst from his shoulders and coiled behind one of the cannons, dragging up two sorry looking pirates to their feet.

"Pintel and Ragetti…the heartless told me their names." Nihlus explained as Sora, Ven, and Kairi all summoned their keyblades. Now they understood what Nihlus had meant when he mouthed Shadow: apparently he had spotted the two of them in his own, private investigation of the ship.

"What are you two doing here?" Sora asked with suspicion as he looked the two pirates over. They were both dressed in rather torn and filthy clothes. They both wore green coats, though only Pintel had on a shirt underneath it. Ragetti was a little chubby and had the beginnings of a beard on him while Pintel was somewhat skinny, almost gaunt, and had a wooden eye. While Sora didn't think he'd actually fought either one of them during his last adventure on Port Royal, the fact that the heartless had known them only confirmed beyond a shadow of doubt that they were once part of Barbossa's crew.

"Oh…us?" Ragetti started as he eyed Sora with fright. "We were just…looking for the captain…I mean Jack Sparrow!" Before either of them could be horribly mangled by Sora, Kairi, or Nihlus (Ven was actually indifferent to them) all five, six if you count Shadow, of them heard elated cries.

"Great, the work's half done!" One of the pirates who just started to run toward the Black Pearl yelled.

_'What the f-?'_ Shadow started mentally, only to be silenced with Nihlus. It seemed that he and Ven were going to have to have a talk about the kinds of words he told Shadow were perfectly acceptable to say in public…as often as you wanted.

"Hey, Will!" Sora called out as he ran over to the side of the Black Pearl when he saw the former blacksmith among the pirates. Unfortunately, he apparently didn't hear Sora over the clamor as he instead turned to the unnamed pirate that had yelled earlier, saying "What about Jack? I can't leave without him!"

As if in response to Will's plight Jack came running down the beach, joyfully waving when he saw his crew, and ship, more or less intact. Suddenly he was running for his life from what appeared to be a furious mob of cannibals before Sora, Ven, Nihlus, Shadow, and Kairi could even begin to comprehend just what the hell had been going on before they had reached the island.

"Time to go!" was all Will said as he and the other pirates began to run up the boarding ramp of the Black Pearl and finish the preparations for sailing away that Pintel and Ragetti had started.

"Sora, is that you?!" Will exclaimed in surprise as he finally noticed the brown haired keyblade master. "What are you doing here?"

"I was going to ask you the same thing, but we were looking for you and Elizabeth since we figured out what was going on in Port Royal." Sora replied with a grin.

"Yes, we also caught these two trying to steal this ship!" Nihlus exclaimed as he dragged both Pintel and Ragetti forward in order to present them to Will. He had already retracted the arms he had used to capture them in the first place. Right now, Nihlus was shooting both the pirates death glares which more or less said "If you tell anyone about my powers, then I'll kill you".

"Alas, my children, you shall always remember this as the day that you almost-!" Jack's unmistakable voice yelled out, presumably to his cannibal pursuers, only to be cut off by a large wave that struck the unlucky pirate captain as he gripped the Black Pearl's rigging. "…Captain Jack Sparrow…" he finished, though with much less enthusiasm.

"Zola!" Jack exclaimed cheerfully as Pintel and Ragetti wormed free of Nihlus's grip, which was surprisingly easy as he was struggling to maintain balance now that the ship was actually moving.

"That's Sora!" Both Kairi and Sora exclaimed irritably while the crew, which seemed abnormally small, worked around them.

"Sora that's exactly what I said!" Jack responded, taking it in stride as he did with virtually everything else. "So, what has brought you and your…friends on board my vessel?" He continued eyeing Nihlus, Ven, and Kairi.

"We were looking for Will," Kairi said, answering on Sora's behalf. "We heard that he and Elizabeth needed help." Jack raised an eyebrow and turned to face Will Turner.

"Jack, Elizabeth is I danger," Will started as he stepped forward.

"Have you considered keeping a closer eye on her? Perhaps locking her up somewhere?" Jack replied as he spun around and began to walk toward the Black Pearl's helm with his usual drunken swagger. Sora and Kairi tried to follow, only to have Nihlus come crashing on top of them, still unable to walk onboard a sea going ship without the use of his powers. By the time Sora and Kairi had gotten out from under Nihlus, who was now leaning halfway on the ship's railing and halfway on the two keyblade wielders, Will and Jack had apparently solved whatever argument they were having.

"Mr. Gibbs!" Jack called out a she approached the pirate that was manning the helm, that same pirate that had yelled "Great, our works half done" during the escape from the cannibals.

"Cap'n? He called back as Jack stepped beside him.

"We have a need to travel up river…" Judging from the sudden look of panic that crossed Mr. Gibbs's face, going up river wasn't a pleasant experience.

"By need do you mean a trifling need? Fleeting as in say, a passing fancy?"

"No, a resolute and unyielding need," Jack replied in a surprisingly serious tone as he walked past Mr. Gibbs, to discuss something with Will. His discussion was cut off, however by the sound of drunken singing.

"Ninety nine bottles of beer on the wall, ninety nine bottles of beer!" Ven's voice echoed out as he climbed out from below deck, staggering, with what appeared to be a bottle of rum in his hand.

"Oh, God, no…" Nihlus said in shock as soon as he realized what must have happened. "God, why do you hate me?"

"I cant' believe…" Kairi said in as much shock as Nihlus. While she had figured that Ven would be the kind of guy to throw wild parties, she never though that he'd be an underage drinker!

"Oi, that's my rum!" Jack Sparrow yelled as he jumped down and snatched he bottle of rum from Ven's hand. The apparently drunk Ven simply stumbled aside and place his back against one of the Black Pearl's masts as he lowered his head. Jack grinned and opened his mouth to take a drink of the alcoholic beverage when he yanked it away from his lips and looked down into it. "It's empty!" he said in displeasure.

Suddenly Ven burst out laughing as he sank to the ground unable to sit up, such was the force of his own laughter. Sora, Kairi, and Nihlus's eyes all widened with realization, Ven had just pulled his latest and greatest prank. "Oh, man, your face…" Ven said in between his gasps for air as he held his stomach, which now ached from all his laughing.

Jack turned away from him, all the while muttering about the rum always being gone. "He really got ya', didn't he cap'n?" Gibb's asked with a slight grin.

"Yes, he did," Jack said, throwing the empty rum bottle over the side of the ship. "He'd make a great pirate if he didn't have that ridiculous hair, though."

* * *

"Great, anyone wanna' bet on whether or not this is actually where that ruin is?" Aqua asked half jokingly as Terra led the group down the boarding ramp of the gummi ship. The last three locations they visited were more or less deserted islands; all of them were almost totally devoid of life.

"This is the final location, if it isn't here, then we'll just have to reunite with Kairi, Sora, Nihlus, and Ven even if it means batting aside the Port Royal's soldiers," Terra replied as he led them deeper into the island's interior. Soon enough, they all reached a clearing in the center of the island; it had what appeared to be a ruined church of some sort that distinguished it from the other three they had seen.

"So you think that's it?" Riku asked as he looked at the rather unimpressive church. Aqua seemed to be in a trance as she stepped toward it, though he helmet made it impossible to see her facial expression. "Hm, Aqua is there something wrong?"

"…No…" Aqua said after a pause, she seemed to be waking up form a dream of some sort. "It's just…Ven, Nihlus, and I…ugh, never mind! Let's just go!" The tone she used as she rushed forward ahead of everyone else was one full of irritation…and something else that Riku couldn't quite place his finger on.

"What's wrong with her?" Roxas asked as he and Namine walked up beside Riku.

"I don't kno-…" Riku stopped in mid-sentence. He suddenly remembered what Aqua and Kairi had said when they were swapping stories after they had subdued Nihlus in the keyblade graveyard. "Wait, she said that she, Ven and Nihlus were exploring an abandoned cathedral when they were kidnapped by Xemnas and Vexen, do you think…?"

Understanding suddenly dawned upon Roxas and Namine. While Nihlus was the most heavily influenced one out of the three because of that event, it didn't mean that it was still traumatizing experience for Aqua and Ven. "Of course…that would explain why she's so angry about that church…" Namine said concernedly.

"I'm sure she'll be fine. Aqua strikes me a tough girl, I'm sure she'll be fine." Roxas replied as he turned to face Namine.

"Thanks, Roxas," she replied as put her hand in his. "Thanks for being there when I need you…" A faint blush could be seen on Namine's face as she said this.

"Sure…" Roxas relied as he gently squeezed her hand, a faint blush of his own forming on his face.

"Hey, come one you two!" Riku called as he walked forward towards the ruined church. "Save it for later would you!"

Roxas and Namine broke off their eye contact and looked away from each other, however they didn't let go of each other's hands.

Soon enough, Terra used his keyblade to open up another secret passage, much like the one that Terra had opened in Halloween Town, however it lead to a single, rectangular room rather than an entire base. The room itself was actually quite large, the walls of it couldn't even be seen but this was probably because of how dark it was.

"Stay on guard," Terra warned a he summoned his keyblade. His caustion was answered with the sound of Roxas summoning, oathkeeper and oblivion, Riku summoning the way to dawn, and Namine gripping Nihlus's staff.

As soon as they entered down the steps, Terra touched a crystal that was nearly identical to the one Ven had used to unwittingly light the previous ruin. As the lights flickered on everyone, even Terra, let out short, surprised gasps. The walls along the room were lined with strange, storage pods that had been activated when Terra turned on the lights. Out of each of the pods, climbed out one of the magically animated suits of chaser armor that had nearly killed both Namine and Terra in the previous ruin.

They were just as rusted as their predecessors, but Namine, most of all out of everyone else, knew how deadly they could be. Although they didn't have the advantage of surprise as they did last time, there were a lot more of them this time around. "Namine, get behind me," Roxas warned as he slowly advanced toward the ruin's guardians ahead of Terra and Riku. Namine quickly nodded, and prepared to use her magic to its fullest extent. She may not have been as good at melee combat as anyone else, but she was far form helpless.

The guardians seemed to regard Roxas with curiosity, instead of hostility as they walked toward him with their swords still undrawn. They made motions as if they were curiously regarding the invaders of their ruin rather than assessing them for some kind of weakness. Suddenly, their gaze shifter to Namine, who was standing behind Terra, Riku, Aqua and Roxas. A choked gurgling sound emanated form one of them, and then stopped abruptly as the maker of the sound looked down at its rusted body.

The guardian's fellows also turned to face it, and made similar sounds. "Perhaps the magic that animated them also allowed them to talk?" Terra hypothesized, though he didn't let his guard down for a second.

"Well, the magic must have degraded or something, they couldn't say something to say their lives!" Riku exclaimed in reply. The guardians seemed to realize that they had lost their ability to speak and instead turned and regarded the keyblade wielders (and Namine who didn't actually fall under that category). Suddenly they all seemed to kneel after they "stared" at Namine for a time. (They didn't have eyes, but their helmets were all pointed in her direction)

"…Okay…" Riku said in confusion. "These things tried to kill Namine last time and know they're kneeling in front of her?"

"They may think she's a princess of heart, the do have the ability to sense how much light and how much darkness is in someone's heart…and act accordingly…" Terra explained as he lowered his keyblade. Roxas didn't let down his guard despite Terra's words; these things had nearly killed Namine for crying out loud!

"Wait, how do you know that Terra?" he asked as he looked over his shoulder at the chaser.

"I found some writings about them in one of the ruins I was investigating before we met." The chaser responded. "I never actually encountered any of them in my explorations, though."

Before Roxas could say anything, Aqua let out a startled "Hey, look out!" as all of the suits of chaser armor seemed to instantly leap to their feet, drawing their rusted swords in the process. Instead of instantly surging forward as Roxas expected, the guardians instead spun around so that their back were facing him.

"What are they doing?" Aqua asked as she gripped her keyblade, at the tip of which a fireball began to form.

"Wait," Riku said as he forced Aqua and Roxas back before they could actually attack the animated suits of chaser armor. "What's that sound?" Both Aqua and Roxas stopped and listened, the sound of claws racking against the stone floor could be heard. Suddenly a feral growl was heard and one of the animated armors was sent flying against the wall, deep claws marks scarred its chest.

Five strange creatures suddenly entered Roxas's sight. They were as big as Terra and muscular. The creatures had horns and faces reminiscent of a dragon's and seemed to run on all fours. Their most distinguishing quality was the fact that they seemed to be made out of darkness. At first Roxas believed that they were heartless, but there seemed to be ball of light as big as his fist at the heart of the five creatures. How could they be heartlesses if the had light in them?

Despite the miniscule amount of light the creatures had, they were still aligned with the darkness as the suits of chaser armor surged forward, slashing at them with their blades. They were, however, swatted aside like nothing more than a few flies, even though the rusted blades did leave a few visible scratches on them.

Riku fired a dark aura attack at the creature closest to him, sending it flying against the wall with a howl of rage. Despite the fact that Riku had just helped them, one of the suits of chaser armor turned and slashed at Riku. The silver haired keyblade master was just barley able to raise his keyblade in time to block the attack, though it threw him off balance.

'_Damn it!_' Riku thought to himself when he realized why the guardian was attacking him. They were made to defend the ruins they were placed in from any who had an abnormal amount of darkness in their hearts or wielded it…the latter of which Riku had just done right in front of them. Regardless, the animated suit of chaser armor didn't get a chance to even trade blows with Riku as Roxas brought both oathkeeper and oblivion to bare on it. First oathkeeper took its feet out form under it, and was followed closely by its companion, oblivion, being smashed across the guardian's chest.

The animated armor was crushed as if it were nothing more than a tin can. "Alright, finally!" Aqua exclaimed as she sent a cascade of lightning at several of the approaching suits of armor. She finally had the opportunity to go all out…again…like she did during her argument with Nihlus and Ven. Roxas nodded and let out a battle yell as he charged forward and impaling the closest guardian with both his keyblades.

He wasn't about to let them repeat what had happened at the last ruin. Terra and riku joined in as well; however they focused their attention on the heartless like creatures. Terra finished off the one that Riku had wounded, while Riku stabbed the right arm of one of them when it tried to attack Terra in the back.

The chaser quickly spun around, striking the creature on its neck and allowing Riku to impale it through its back using the Way to Dawn. There were only three of the heartless like creatures left. The last three, after throwing the last of the guardians away like rag dolls, all began to charge toward Namine and Aqua after witnessing the two of the obliterating the animated chaser armors that weren't attacking they, the heartless creatures, with light blasts and thundara spells respectively.

"Shit!" Aqua yelled, much Namine's chagrin, as the lead heartless jumped over her fira spell. It landed on top of Aqua, pinning her right arm down in the process, and raised it claws in preparation to finish her off. However, the creature was blown off Aqua by a ball of light, courtesy of Namine. As it sailed in the air Aqua sat up and with a cry of "Firaga!" was consumed in an immense fireball that was sent forth from her keyblade. Unfortunately neither of them had time to celebrate their victory, as before Aqua could react she grabbed and then tossed over the shoulder of one of the two remaining heartless creatures.

Aqua landed with a loud thud and slid along the ground, barely able to lift her head off the ground. Namine, however, was in much worse straits than her. She raised a reflega shield in time to send the first creature to reach her flying back howling in pain and rage as its own attack was turned against it. However, the shield only lasted for one second and then it faded away into nothingness, partially out of the damage it sustained, but mainly because that was the absolute longest it could be maintained at that level.

The other creature roared and surged forward in the heartless (if it was a heartless) equivalent of an adrenaline rush. Namine let out a startled chock as she felt it grip and lift her into the air, its lips forming into what resembled a twisted smirk. "NAMINE!" Roxas yelled, his voice stained with both rage and fear, as he sprinted toward the creature with oathkeeper and oblivion dragging on the floor behind him, sending sparks flying everywhere.

He raised them both over his head as he approached the creature, intent on tearing it apart, only to have the other one, the one Namine had wounded with her reflega shield, tackle him at the last minute. "ROXAS!" Namine cried out in an agonizingly pained voice. The heartless had taken Sora's nobody off guard and managed to get on top of him, pinning him to the ground with one arm and raising the other over it's head with the intention of impaling Roxas with it's claws.

Namine shifted her view from Roxas to the creature that held her in its grip; there was a fire in her eyes that didn't seem natural to her outer appearance of a sweet, blonde haired teenager that liked to draw. The creature howled in pain and released Namine, she seemed to be glowing with a pure light that made the sun's look like a cheap imitation of true light. The creature that was about to finish off Roxas stopped in its tracks; partially out of the fact that Roxas had stopped desperately slashing at it (to no avail, though) and partially because it could feel something behind it.

Suddenly, Namine's light seemed to explode in all directions utterly destroying the heartless that had held her a few seconds ago as well as the one that had tried to kill Roxas. It also blinded Roxas as it sent him flying into the air. He dimly heard Terra give a startled cry of "What?" and then a grunt as he too was sent flying, presumably along with Riku and Aqua as well.

Roxas felt something hard and stony hit his back; he was too disoriented to know whether it was the wall or the floor. Finally Roxas came to a stop. As his vision began to return he saw Namine sink to the ground, fervently hoping she was merely unconscious and not dead. After that, the outline of his sight was consumed by darkness as he felt himself drift into unconsciousness.

* * *

Ow…fingers broken…eyes bloodshot…mind like wrung sponge…in other words I worked my sorry butt off writing this, possibly the longest chapter to date. Anyway, the next chapter should wrap up Pirates of the Caribbean 2 as well as start the event in which Sora and Kairi finally express their feelings for each other. (The almost kiss, which you now probably hate Nihlus for accidentally ruining wasn't it).

On a side note, I think I may have an idea as to which member of the female persuasion finally manages to curb Ven's perverse side…any guesses as to who it is? They are a cannon member of the cast (even if they have a really minor role) so you guys do have a chance.


	17. Chapter 16: Davy Jones

Notes: Okay, I'm letting KeybladeAngel134 do the disclaimer this time around because she asked, and I didn't have any other ideas…but mainly because she asked! I altered her original idea, but only on the punctuation, spelling errors,and a few words.

Rogue: Okay, Sora, do the disclaimer!

Sora: Why should I?

Rogue: Because it's your turn, and I'm the author around here!

Sora: Grrrr, fine! Blackrogue123 only owns his ideas and GAH!! (Ducks underneath a flamethrower chainsaw type weapon with a spork) OH GOD, NOT HERE TOO!!

Angel: (holds up the chainsaw flamethrower weapon thingy with the spork menacingly) Yup, here too!

Rogue: Hey, only I am allowed to torture them in my author notes! Go back to your own…wait, HOW'D YOU GET HERE?!

Angel: (points her weapon at Rogue) Wrong words, my friend! And don't question me! (Starts to chase Rogue)

Rogue: GAH! (Dodges the flames from the flamethrower…thingy) GET TO THE STORY ALREADY!!

And now for something completely different (Sorry, I just had to add that in there. I'm a Monty Python fan!)

* * *

"Ven, stop screwing around right now!" Kairi heard Nihlus yell to Ven in irritation at the Roxas look-a-like's antics. She and Sora had been doing another sparing session onboard the Black Pearl while Jack and everyone else went up river to find whoever Jack was trying to visit. Apparently Ven had a burst of inspiration from watching Sora and Kairi fight and decided to challenge Nihlus, taking advantage of the fact that he could barely stand up thanks to the rocking motions of the ship.

"Think fast, Kairi!" Sora yelled as he charged at the auburn haired princess of heart, snapping her back to attention in the process. As interesting as watching Nihlus grow various appendages in an attempt to ward off Ven, who was surprisingly good at fighting due to his unorthodox style and all the practice he had with Nihlus when the dark champion went around looking for people to spar with, not getting the crap beaten out of her by Sora took priority. Besides, theses sparing sessions gave Kairi the perfect opportunity to show Sora what she was made of!

Kairi raised her keyblade in order to block Sora's blow, causing a deadlock to happen in the process. The deadlock didn't last long, however, as Sora spun to the side striking at Kairi in the process. The princess of heart just barely managed to dodge the strike, countering with a stab aimed at Sora's chest. The keyblade master raised his keyblade in time to parry Kairi's, causing her to lose her balance and stumble forward. Before Kairi could recover, Sora had the kingdom key at her throat as a sign of victory.

"That was…pretty good!" Sora said in between deep breathes, almost gasps in fact. While neither of them had used magic, for fear of setting the Black Pearl on fire, it was clear that Kairi was coming very close to matching Sora in terms of skill level in combat. "Actually, I think I learned a few tricks myself!" Sora continued as he slumped against the mast in an attempt to regain his breath.

"Aw, you're just saying that to be nice!" Kairi replied, with a smile as she too slumped up against the mast, though at a different place than Sora, for the match had exhausted her as much as it had Sora.

"No, Really! When I was learning how to use the keyblade, I just came up with my own moves as I went on. I never really had any formal practice with it."

"Oh…well, thanks!" Kairi replied as she moved off and away form the mast. "That really means a lot to me!" Sora looked down at the ground and scratched the back of his head in mild embarrassment. He wasn't quite sure how to react to Kairi's thanks. However, before he could make a fool of himself by stuttering or saying something that he would later regret, Nihlus and Ven interrupted the awkward moment as they always seemed to do.

"Shadow, what are doing?!" Nihlus yelled as he found that there was a sudden resistance to his movements, no doubt the work of his symbiotic friend.

'_It's all part of a little prank that Ven and I worked out…'_ Nihlus growled as he watched Ven charging toward him, preparing to knock him over the side of the ship. Because mutual paralysis was the inevitable result of any kind of fight between Shadow and Nihlus, the latter was forced to watch helplessly as Ven lined up a jumping kick that was sure to knock him over the side of the ship.

"VEEEEEEEN!!" Nihlus yelled furiously as he flew over the Black Pearl's railing and into the water with a loud splash. The infamous pranker began to laugh as soon as he saw Nihlus's facial expression. He was soon joined by his accomplice in the matter, who had taken physical form while Nihlus was falling.

"Alright, one…two…three!" Shadow said with a grin as he and Ven faced each other, in preparation for what appeared to be some kind of secret handshake.

"You can't beat at the ping pong!" They both said at the same as they made various hand gestures at each other. "We get the ho-ho and the ding dong…ding dong!" the entire handshake ended with them punching each other's fist. Sora and Kairi awkwardly watched the whole thing, not quite sure how what to say about the randomness of the whole thing. Soon, a waterlogged Nihlus came crawling over the side of the Black Pearl, to say that he looked pissed would be an understatement.

"Shadow…we need to have a little talk…" He said as he grabbed Shadow by his arm and wrenched the shape shifting being of darkness back into him. Whatever kind of sick and depraved vengeance Nihlus was mentally wreaking upon Shadow was lost to everyone around him. After about thirty seconds of just standing on the deck in a trance like state a satisfied smile creped across Nihlus's face as he began to hum to himself and move down below the Black Pearl's decks.

"Sora, did you understand any of that?" Kairi asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Not one bit of it…"

"Hey look, Jackie's back!" Ven hollered as he unsummoned his keyblade and Ran toward the boarding ramp. "I'm almost inclined to thank him for making us have to guard the ship…Nihlus's face when I kicked him over was priceless!" Sure enough, when Sora and Kairi walked up next to Ven, they could see the longboats that he, Will, and the rest of the pirates had used to visit some weird gypsy lady named Tia Dalma…or so Jack had claimed.

"So, what happened, Will?" Sora asked as soon as the former blacksmith came aboard once more. For a moment William Turner seemed a bit conflicted about what to say, whatever happened must have had quite an effect on him.

"It's a long story, I'll just tell you below deck where we'll be out of the rain." Sora, Ven and Kairi all looked up to see storm clouds forming on the horizon, where Jack happened to be directing the Black Pearl in hopes of finding whatever it was he and Will had agreed to.

* * *

"Well then, I think it's safe to say that we can't trust Jack," Nihlus commented with his arms crossed as soon as Will had finished his narrative. Elizabeth's fiancé had just began to explain to Sora, Kairi and, Ven what happened in Tia Dalma's shack when Nihlus happened to stumble across them and decided to hand around since he had nothing better to do, and was somewhat distrusting of Jack. The pirate captain may be Sora's friend, but that didn't mean he was Nihlus's. "Still…that Davy Jones guy tore out his own heart, huh?" This last remark was Nihlus talking more to himself than anyone else.

"Wait, if Jack needs to get Jones's heart, then why didn't he just ask me or Kairi to use our keyblades to open the chest?" Sora asked, perplexed at Jack's secrecy. While the pirate captain was certainly eccentric, he wasn't stupid enough to simply forget that keyblades could open any kind of lock. The only exceptions to that were locks that had somehow been magically sealed, but even then there were ways around even the most powerful of seals.

"Simple, good ole' Jackie's uncomfortable with the idea of you guy's getting your hands on the heart. He's hiding something!" Ven stated matter of factly as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"But why would he try to hide anything from us?" Kairi asked, voicing everyone's thoughts.

"…I don't know" Will admitted "but I think it would be best if we stay together. Right now, I don't trust anyone else on the ship."

"Wow, really? I'm touched…" Nihlus commented in a tone that made it impossible to determine whether he was being sarcastic or sincere. Everyone shot Nihlus a questioning look before he turned around to leave the room. "People tend to react…negatively when they figure out what my "talents" are….I think Sora and Kairi know what I'm talking about…"

* * *

"That's the Flying Dutchman?!" Will asked in disbelief over the sound of the thunder storm that raged around the Black Pearl. Despite all the rain and thunder, Nihlus could clearly see a wrecked ship pinned against what looked like to be a rock formation, possibly a reef of some kind. "She doesn't look like much!"

"Well, neither do you!" Jack shot back. "Don't underestimate her!"

"Must have run afoul of the reef!" Mr. Gibbs said unenthusiastically after Jack kicked him in the leg when he didn't think anyone was looking. Nihlus turned his attention to everyone around for a brief instant. Sora and Kairi were literally standing side by side, with Sora trying to shield Kairi from the rain with his jacket. Nihlsu wasn't too surprised at this, when he had nearly torn Sora's heart out after getting the drop on him during their duel on Hollow Bastion (or Radiant Garden as everyone who wasn't a heartless insisted that he called that world) he had felt the keyblade master's various emotions regarding just about everything.

His feelings toward Kairi stood out most of all, so even Nihlus was able to understand that Sora had romantic feelings toward the seventh princess of heart. Judging form their interactions with each other the romantic feelings Sora harbored were mutual. As Nihlus looked at the couple, whether or not they would admit it was official yet was irrelevant to him, he couldn't help but feel a pang of…jealousy? It was miniscule, but the fact that it was there was disturbing to say the least.

Shaking himself out of it, Nihlus turned his attention back to Will and Jack. "So, what's your plan?" asked the former, his voice had just a tiny bit of cynicism in it. Jack didn't expect Will to succeed in the whole "getting the key to the chest of Davy Jones" venture.

"I board the ship, find the key, and cut down any crewmen who get in my way," Will replied resolutely.

"Hm, now that sounds like my kind of plan!" Nihlus exclaimed, mildly uplifted at the prospect of beating the hell out of someone and possibly even taking a few hearts in the process. Though, he would never admit it to anyone other than Shadow, he had something of a soft spot for the heartless. The telepathic message that inevitably came from a newborn heartless was usually along the lines of a joyful exclamation of "Daddy!" followed by a tackled/hug depending on the size of the heartless. There were several, unpleasant incidents involving some of the larger breeds. Still, it would be blackmail material if anyone, especially Aqua and Ven found out. The idea of him nurturing anything, even if it was a two story high darkside heartless, would result in Ven teasing him incessantly.

What Aqua's reaction would be, however, completely escaped Nihlus.

"I like it too!" Jack cheerfully exclaimed after shooting Nihlus a questioning look. "It's simple and easy to remember!"

"Hang on, we're coming too." Sora said as he and Kairi walked up to Jack, still in the same pose they were in when they were standing off to the side. Jack raised an eyebrow but then signaled that they were more than welcome to join Will in the longboat.

'_Shadow, where's Ven?'_ Nihlus asked as he too began to climb into the longboat along with Sora and Kairi.

_'Oh, he was taking a nap below deck. Before you start getting angry at me and him just look at the boat and then at the sea. I doubt this cheap little thing I going to be able to carry more than four people in this weather.'_ Nihlus mentally grunted in irritation even though he knew that Shadow was correct.

"Oh, and if you get captured, just say that Captain Jack Sparrow sent you to settle his dept…it may save your life!" Jack hollered out over the storm as the longboat was lowered into the ocean.

"Well, I think it's safe to say that he has complete and utter confidence in us!" Shadow commented cynically as Nihlus and Will rowed the boat. Will shot Nihlus a brief and slightly startled glance at this. While Sora and Kairi had explained Nihlus's past and abilities, Will hadn't quite gotten used to the idea of Shadow just speaking out of nowhere. The fact that Nihlus had tried to turn Sora into a heartless before didn't exactly help things either.

Still, he was on civil terms with him, mainly because of Sora and Kairi's assurances that Nihlus was on their side.

"We can't go back now," Will replied in between strokes. "I have to save Elizabeth no matter what."

"I'm just saying, stay on your toes…it's much better than staying on your head!"

After a few, unpleasant minutes of rowing the longboat they group of adventurers finally reached the gutted ship that Jack claimed to be the Flying Dutchman. "Let's get this over before anything happens," Sora said as he summoned his keyblade while Nihlus summoned a curved sword, Will drew his cutlass, and Kairi summoned her own keyblade.

_'What's the worst that can happen? Attack of the mutant fish people?'_ Shadow jokingly asked Nihlus as he advanced forward behind everyone else. The champion of darkness mentally rolled his eyes at his symbiotic companion's joke.

"Hey, look!" Kairi said pointing off at the outline of something that Nihlus couldn't quite make out. A sudden flash of lightening illuminated the figure enough to reveal it to be a bloody sailor desperately pulling on the ship's rigging.

"Sailor, it's no use, the ship's run aground!" Will shouted in an attempt to get through to the panic stricken man. The man stuttered a few unintelligible words and then finally replied.

"No, beneath us…foul breath…tentacles!" Will seemed taken aback by this, perhaps it was some form of sailor superstition? Regardless, a plop was heard behind the group, causing everyone to spin around in time to see a man fall from the rigging and hit the deck where the water formed a pool. Sora and Kairi cautiously advanced on the man, ignoring yet another terrified sailor who was hiding beneath a pile of refuse.

Both Sora and Kairi jumped back with panicked cries that were soon echoed by Nihlus and Will, though Will's was not as loud due to him being an adult and more used to graphic images. The man that had fallen had no face, only what appeared to be the imprint of a tentacle!

Suddenly and out of nowhere a monster of a ship seemed to burst from underwater. It seemed rotten and had all kinds of sea life growing on it, it bow looked like the jaws to some monster from legends. As suddenly as the ship's appearance, misshapen monstrosities seemed to just materialize out of the wood of the wrecked ship that Will, Sora, Nihlus, and Kairi were on.

'_That son of a bitch set us up!_' Shadow mentally yelled as the bizarre and monstrous fish men charged toward the group. Nihlus waved off Shadow's accusation as he began to access his powers. Jack would have a lot of explaining to do after they defeated these glorified fish men!

Sora and Kairi fought side by side, one of them firing off an ice spell while the other used physical attacks to ward off the fish creatures. Unfortunately, nothing seemed to be able to stop the creatures. Whether they were immortal or just had remarkable constitutions was a mystery to Nihlus, but either way, they were somehow able to survive the onslaught that Sora Kairi, Nihlus, and Will were putting up against them.

Nihlus deflected a sword blow from one of monstrosities and then slashed it across the throat with a wrist blade that he had grown in mid-strike. He wasn't given even a second of respite as he saw Will crumple to the ground, unconscious, out of the corner of his eye. Apparently several of the creatures had ganged up on him and struck him from behind. Nihlus was briefly distracted, but returned his attention to the battle when Shadow took the liberty of impaling one of the things with a bladed tentacle before it could strike Nihlus.

Mentally muttering a quick thank you, Nihlus yelled for Sora and Kairi to cover him while he dragged Will to safety. Both keyblade masters nodded and then started running to each side of Nihlus, easily deflecting the rusty weapons of the creatures and countering with slashes and stabs to force the monstrosities away.

"We can't win!" Kairi yelled in frustration as she sent one of her attackers flying backwards with a slice across the head. "They just keep coming!"

"…I have an idea, but you'll have to trust me!" Nihlus hollered back as he imbedded spear-like stake in the neck of one of the creatures when it tried to rush him and the unconscious Will, who rested on Nihlus's shoulder. Sora sent forth a blizzaga spell from his keyblade, knocking one of the attackers back into another and giving the entire group a few more seconds in order to plan their escape.

"What do you have in mind, Nihlus?"

"…A dark door…" came Nihlus's hesitant answer. He had a feeling that Sora and Kairi wouldn't exactly accept his idea with open arms. If they did, they would be putting themselves at his mercy, relying only on his word of honor to see them through.

"WHAT, no way!" Sora exclaimed angrily, just as Nihlus had expected he would.

"Sora, we can't go on like this forever!" Kairi yelled over her shoulder as she conjured up a reflega spell to hold off the monsters for a few more seconds. "There's no other way!" Sora glared angrily at the fish men for about one and a half seconds before he responded.

"Fine…but me and Kairi go in first, together…" Nihlus nodded his head and extended his hand behind him, a dark door forming where he had indicated with his hand.

"Hurry!" He yelled as he began to drag Will with him toward it, occasionally growing a tentacle and lashing out at any of the pursuers that got too close. 'Shadow, you keep the door open while I defend myself.' Shadow mentally nodded in reply and began to devote all his energy into maintaining the dark door that Sora and Kairi were running through.

Nihlus grinned and began to dash forward as fast as he could with Will on top of him, he was certain that he had managed to drive his pursuers away. Nihlsu was literally only a few inches from the dark door and safety when suddenly he felt agonizing pain and something cutting its way through his stomach. Nihlus stopped in his tracks and looked down in disbelief to see a rusty looking cutlass protruding from his belly, one of the monsters had impaled him from behind. He felt his strength leave him; all of a sudden Will seemed to weigh as much as a skyscraper would, whereas before he had seemed like a bag of potatoes! Difficult to carry, but not impossible.

Nihlus sank to the ground, with the unconscious Will Turner rolling off his shoulder and tumbling away from him. As he sank to his hands and knees, using his right hand to cover his wound he heard Shaod practically scream _"Nihlus!!"_ whether it was a telepathic scream or not, Nihlus didn't know. He felt the blade being brutally torn back out of his stomach from behind and then stabbed right through his chest, where his hear would have been if he had one. Nihlus let out a choked and strangled cry as he sank to the ground, unable to even stand on one knee. As he lay in a slowly growing pool of his own blood Nihlus couldn't help but notice the fact that it looked like it had been mixed with oil. It was red, but at the same time tainted with pure darkness.

Nihlus had heard before that your life flashes before your eyes just before you die, and right now he was remembering one of the things that Shadow had told him about their bond. That eh would undergo some physical changes as a result of having his heart replaced by darkness.

His vision darkened as he saw the dark door dissipate, along with it his last hope of escape. Nihlus could dimly hear several of the monsters talking amongst themselves in celebration of their victory. _'No…can not…WILL NOT!'_ he heard Shadow's voice yell, though it began to take a much more sinister tone. Suddenly he felt tentacles of some sort burst forth from his back, viciously whipping the closest fish men in the process.

"Ssssshow ussss how immortal you are…" Shadow's voice taunted, though it had developed a hiss and sounded, for lack of better words, malevolent. "Yesssss, you wounded the vesssssel, inexcussssable!" Nihlus suddenly felt an overwhelming and agonizing headache, it dulled even the pain in his stomach and chest. His vision began to blacken until he couldn't see anything but blackness; it couldn't have been the work of his wounds.

Nihlus felt one of the tentacles wrap around something; judging from the scream that followed it was one of the fish men. "Now…you will ssssee ussss everywhere…even in your nightmaressss!" His consciousness was fading; somehow Nihlus knew his consciousness was being suppressed somehow by the terrible rage that had befallen Shadow. "And now…we'll eat you alive!" was the last thing Nihlus heard before he felt a tingling sensation, and then sank into a coma–like state…

* * *

Sora let out something akin to gasp as he and Kairi stumbled out of the dark door. It had initially felt like something was watching them, not with malice, but watching them nevertheless. Towards the end, however, the "feel" of the entire trip changed completely. An overwhelming amount of fear and a sense of panic seemed to permeate the dark door. It was inexplicable, and yet both of the keyblade masters had felt it. It was as if the realm of darkness had been turned upside down instantaneously.

"Jack, you have a lot of explaining to do!" Sora hissed in a low tone as he brought up his keyblade against the pirate's neck. The dark door had conveniently led them back onto the Black pearl.

"Wait, Sora, where's Nihlus and Will?" Kairi asked as she turned around, expecting Nihlus to be right behind her dragging William. Instead, she saw the door flicker and then fade away, with no indication of the status Nihlus and Will.

"Jack…" Sora started angrily. Before the pirate could respond in anyway, his eyes widened as he eyes shifted from the furious keyblade master to the REAL Flying Dutchman.

"Oh bugger!" Jack exclaimed at something behind Sora. Kairi let out a startled cry but was quickly silenced by something, prompting Sora to spin around, only to find half a dozen cutlasses pointed at his throat.

"Not this time, ya' little snipes!" one of the Flying Dutchman's crew members sneered at Sora and Kairi as they were herded at sword point into the center of the deck with the rest of the crew. He and Kairi stood side by side, watching helplessly as what was arguably the most deformed of all the crewmen seemed to confront Jack Sparrow. He had a crab claw for a left arm, a beard of tentacles, and a peg-like crab leg. The monster before them was none other than Davy Jones, the captain of the Flying Dutchman!

"You have a debt to pay!" Jones stated angrily in a Scottish accent as he approached Jack. "You've been captain of the Black Pearl for three years; that was our agreement!"

"Well, technically I was only captain for two years before I was viciously mutinied upon." Jack replied in a tone that suggested that he was making up a new plan to get out of whatever bargain he had made with Jones.

"Then you were a poor captain, but a captain nonetheless!" Jones shot back as he circled Jack like a shark would to a mortally wounded whale. He even had an almost hungry look in his eyes. "Have you not introduced yourself all these years as CAPTAIN Jack Sparrow?" Davy Jones's crew joined their captain in laughing at his victory as well as Jack's facial expression.

It looked as if Jack was mentally saying "Oh bugger" along with other, far darker curses at the loophole that he himself had ruined, albeit unintentionally.

"You have my payment," Jack countered in an attempt to regain his lost momentum. "The one soul to serve aboard your ship is already over there." Sora visibly flinched at this as he finally noticed that Jack was holding a telescope in one hand. It was safe to say that he had observed the entire skirmish before and after Nihlus opened the dark door.

If he was saying there was only one person left on the ship, then was he referring to Will or Nihlus?Sora felt his heart almost stop at the though of either of them being dead. While he and Nihlus weren't really that close, he did feel a certain degree of sympathy for him. The fact that it was through Nihlus's apparent sacrifice that he and Kairi had escaped in the first place didn't help ease his new found guilt either.

He had been the one who insisted that Nihlus go last even though he was lugging Will, a full grown man, over his shoulder. The fact that he had simply been trying to protect Kairi at the time seemed to carry very little weight in his internal argument, regardless of how logical it was.

"One soul is not equal to another!" Jones shot back, shaking his head as he did so. Apparently Jack was fighting for his very soul here, no wonder he had been so desperate before.

"Aha!" Jack exclaimed almost in triumph. "So we've established that my proposal is sound in principle, now we're just haggling over the price!"

Davy Jones mad a strange popping noise with his lips before responding. "Price?" he asked in an intrigued tone. Jack's silver tongue and quick thinking had gotten his foot into the door, so to speak, now he just had to make sure that Jones didn't slam it in his face.

"Just how many souls do you think mine's worth?" Davy Jones quickly looked around the Black Pearl's deck as he considered Jack's question. Sora and Kairi both felt the monstrosity's gaze upon them for one, terrible second, before it shifted elsewhere. They both only just managed to suppress shudders afterwards.

"…One hundred souls…three days." Jones finally replied with all the authority of fate itself as he finally took a step away from Jack.

"You're a diamond, mate!" Jack said cheerfully, elated now that he had saved his own skin. "Just send me back the boy and I'll get started right away!" One of the crewmen of the Flying Dutchman stepped forward to stop Jack from moving away when the pirate captain turned away from Jones. Meanwhile, Sora was inwardly furious, both at himself and the fact that he still didn't know whether it was Nihlus or Will who was still alive.

Kairi, somehow sensing Sora's anger, put her hand into his, gently squeezing in a silent gesture to calm down. Sora was surprised at Kairi, but nevertheless returned her squeeze with one of his own as he did as she had bid to. Out of all the people Sora had met, Kairi was the one person who could calm him down so quickly.

"I keep the boy as a good faith payment…that only leaves you ninety nine more to go!" Jones replied sadistically, clearly he enjoyed tormenting Jack Sparrow. He began to laugh along with his crew as Jack's face changed to one of discomfort.

"Have you not met Will Turner?" Jack asked as he hesitantly approached Davy Jones. "He's noble, heroic, terrific soprano. He has to be worth at least for, maybe three and a half? And did I mention, he's in love?" Jones seemed to freeze instantly as soon as he heard the "in love" part of Jack's statement. "With a girl," Jack continued as he began to circle Jones, a small glint of triumph in his eyes at having gotten a reaction out of his nemesis. "Due to be married, betrothed. Dividing him from her and her from him would only be half as cruel as letting them be joined in holy matrimony, eh?"

Jones's eyes seemed human as he stared off into space as Jack said this. It was surprising really, his eyes were almost as beautiful as Sora's, and that's saying something when you're comparing a lobster man with a noble and heroic keyblade master!

"I keep the boy!" Jones snarled as he snapped back into reality. "Ninety nine souls…but I wonder, Sparrow." Jones continued as he turned to face Jack once more. "Can you live with yourself? Can you condemn an innocent man, a friend, to a lifetime of servitude, in your place, while you yourself roam free?" A philosophical and judging tone and air had replaced Jones's normally cruel and sadistic one for this one question.

"…Yep, I'm good with it!" Jack said with a surprising degree of cheer in his voice. Sora felt an urge to beat the life out of Jack as great as his urge to beat the life out of Davy Jones. "Shall we seal it in blood, uh, I mean ink?" Jack said extending his hand toward Jones. The captain of the Flying Dutchman seemed to glare at Jack as if he were a troublesome piece of crap in the middle of the sidewalk before he took Jack's hand into his own, tentacle-like one, and covered it in slime.

What appeared to be a black spot of some kind vanished instantly. Suddenly, and literally out of the blue, Sora felt the mental link he had with Nihlus suddenly become active. Although he felt two presences, one was considerably weaker than the other and felt nothing like Nihlus's mind.

'_Sssstop sssstruggling, maggot!'_ a voice that sounded like a serpentine and twisted version of Shadow's demanded to the weaker presence that felt nothing like Nihlus's. '_You nearly killed the vesssssel, and now you ssssshall feel the oblivion that you ssssso feared when you agreed to sssssserve the sssssea dweller!'_ While Sora was quite new to the whole telepathic mind link thing, he could feel that the weaker presence was in terrible agony…and suddenly, it vanished as if it were never there.

The entity that sounded like Shadow did indeed feel like Shadow, but it was somehow different in an inexplicable way. It was Shadow and it wasn't Shadow at the same time. Regardless, the fact that Sora couldn't feel Nihlus at all was a cause of concern.

_'And now…the vessssel must be tended to…don't interfere with our vengeance, little champion of the light…'_ The voice warned, finally addressing Sora directly. '_We sssshall reek our vengeance upon Jackie…do not interfere with that you can't hope to fathom! There issss far more resssting upon thisssss hossstss's fate than you, a mortal, could hope to comprehend!'_ At this, Sora felt the malevolent entity seal the link once more, its message raising far more questions than it had answered.

"Sora…Sora!" Kairi shouted as she shook her spiky haired friend in an attempt to wake him from his trance-like state.

"Huh, wha-?" Sora sputtered out as he looked around, there was no sign that Davy Jones had ever been on the Black Pearl, apart form the shaken looks the crew had.

"You just zoned out there for a minute." Kairi explained concernedly. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine…Nihlus is alive." Sora replied, preparing to explain all of what had just transpired to Kairi. The seventh princess of heart's eyes widened in surprise and then took on a hopeful look. Just before Sora could explain his mental "conversation" with whatever it was that had taken up residenc in Nihlus's mind both he and Kairi heard a rather loud yawn coming from the steps that led to below the deck and saw Ven marching up them as he stretched.

"Oh, hey guys!" he greeted cheerily. "Boy that was a nice nap! So, what'd I miss?"

* * *

"Ah, good, you're finally awake!" Namine heard Aqua exclaim as the blonde haired nobody let out a small moan as she felt a dull pain on her stomach and just below her chest where the heartless-like creature had grabbed her. "I was wondering whether or not you were going to recover during my shift!"

"Shift?" Namine questioned as she sat up. She was in the bed in one of the three rooms in the crew quarters.

"Oh yeah, we decided to take turns staying with you and Roxas while the others searched the ruin. Terra and Riku managed to find something while you two were out cold, but Terra says that he won't be able to get it to work unless he can get some help from Radiant Garden…or at least I think he said that."

Namine nearly jumped up out of the bed she was in at the mention Roxas's name. "Wait, Roxas? Is he alright? Did I hurt him? Will he-?" Namine's barrage of questions was silenced by Aqua swiftly placing her hand over Namine's mouth in irritation.

"Roxas, or Roxy as I think that you should call him from the way you two act around each other, is just fine. He's in the same condition you are, that blast just knocked him out."

Namine breathed a sigh of relief when she heard Aqua's assurance. "Oh, that's good to know…wait, what's with the "Roxy" thing?!" Namine asked as her face turned a shade of pink.

"Oh, that?" Aqua's voice had a mischievous tone to it. "Well, I mean, it's pretty obvious, isn't it? I know you like him…you guys blush at each other all the time and Roxas looked halfway demented when he saw that heartless thingy grab you…of course, you looked pretty crazy yourself when that other one tried to kill Roxas…"

"Ah," was all Namine was able to say in reply to Aqua's accusations. While She and

Roxas were Sora and Kairi's nobodies, they were a lot more…expressive of their emotions, which sometimes reflected how Sora and Kairi would WANT to act in a particular situation, but wouldn't because of the potential consequences.

Of course, they were their own beings now, but that didn't mean that certain qualities of Sora and Kairi didn't reflect in their nobodies…

"…Well…I guess I like him…a lot…" Namine slowly admitted with a hint of reluctance. Her not-so-secret-secret was out of the bag.

Aqua raised an eyebrow at Namine's admission. "Wow, I didn't think that you'd actually admit it anytime soon… maybe I should try the same thing on Roxas…mybe even Sora and Kairi when I see them next…"

"What?! No, please don't'!" Namine exclaimed panicking. "I don't want Roxas to…to…" She wasn't even able to finish her own sentence due to her own embarrassment.

"Alright, alright, I won't do anything," Aqua replied as she raised her arms in mock defeat. "Tell you what, Terra made you some replacement clothing for you to use since you may get into another fight…and that dress of yours is a little, eh, unsuitable for public wear…so I'll go and get it for you!"

At this Namine lifted the covers of the bed to look at the plain white dress that she normally wore. It had the area that normally covered her belly missing, as though it had been burnt off. "Oh…that would be nice…" Namine said as she stared down at the remains of her dress, if you could call it a dress after the damage it had sustained. Namine's blush turned crimson when she saw how bad it was.

She had been planning to get out of the bed and go to see Roxas as soon as she and Aqua were done talking. The idea of Roxas seeing her in the now-ruined dress was…embarrassing to put it mildly.

"Be back in a flash!" Aqua hollered over her shoulder cheerfully as she went off to fetch whatever it was that Terra had made for Namine. Kairi's nobody only had to wait about a minute before her blue haired comrade came walking triumphantly back into the room. "Got it!" Aqua exclaimed as she lifted the article of clothing for Namine to see.

It was a one piece dress similar to the one that Namine was wearing right now, with the exception of the rather revealing hole, however it had white plates of armor, whether it was metal or leather Namine couldn't tell, sown into it at the shoulders and chest. It seemed to harden around the area of the stomach, though not enough to restrict movement, in order to offer protection there, and it had a blue outline that traced around the entire suit.

"Yeah, there's a few other things that go with it, but you get the idea," Aqua explained as she handed Namine her new suit of clothing. "Oh, let me get that staff Nihlus loaned you it's…changed…in a good way!" Despite Aqua's optimistic tone, Namine heard her mutter "I hope" at the end of her claim.

In less than thirty seconds, Aqua came back into the room with what appeared to be a strange mix between a keyblade and the staff that Nihlus had given Namine. Her eyes widened when she saw the changes that it had undergone. One end had had its blade replaced with a small, crystal-like stone, while the other end had had it's blade replaced by a key-shaped object.

The entire staff was now white instead of the metallic gray that it possessed when Nihlus was its master. Along the staff wound several lines of thin golden lines that snaked their ways across its entire length. "What happened to it?" Namine asked as Aqua handed the staff to her.

"We don't know," Aqua admitted. "Terra thinks that it may have happened when you did that light explosion thing…and before you ask, we just figured that that happened because you're the nobody of Kairi and may have gotten some of her abilities as a princess of heart, kinda like how Roxas can use keyblades because he's Sora's nobody!"

Namine clutched the staff tightly as she sucked in Aqua's words, all of it made sense, but still…

"Well, I'll just guard the door while you change; unless you'd rather have Roxas accidentally walk in here to check on you while you're changing!" Namine's blush, which had faded away during her talk with Aqua about the staff and her new suit of clothing, now returned full force, much to Aqua's obvious delight. "I'll just leave you to your wishful thinking then…"

Namine thought and then grinned when she came up with an idea to get even with Aqua for her teasing about her and Roxas. "Say, Aqua…you were pretty concerned about Nihlus when he got separated along with Ven, Sora, and Kairi…are you still concerned about him now?"

Aqua immediately spun around, her surprised expression made it blatantly obvious that she was caught off guard by Namine's question. "N-no! I don't give a rip about him! He's just a stupid boy!"

"I see…" Namine said halfway to herself and halfway to Aqua as a grin broke out across her face. "But, if he's just a stupid boy that you hate, then why do you spend do much time around him? From the memories I got from Kairi, Nihlus seemed hell-bent on getting you and Ven back…and he hasn't been very enthusiastic about hanging out with Ven, has he?" Aqua shifted uncomfortably but didn't turn away, she wasn't about to back down just yet. "And I remember him showing Kairi a certain picture when-."

Namine was abruptly cut off by Aqua making a sound that sounded like a cross between a gasp and a muffled scream. "Wait, I can explain that!" she said in a high voice, almost imploringly. "It was just one of Ven's jokes, he set that trip wire when I was finished with my shower and then he tricked Nihlus into…" Aqua slowly stopped when she saw Namine's confused expression. "You weren't talking about the picture with me and Nihlus…oh God!" she continued, slapping her forehead in the process.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Namine asked delicately when she saw how badly Aqua was blushing at the realization that she had revealed an incredible embarrassing memory by accident.

"Yeah…alright," Aqua said as she lowered her hand from her face, exposing her blush once more. "I had just finished putting on a tank top and some short shorts after I had gotten out of the shower when Ven decided to play a prank. He knew that I always wore the top and shorts when I got out of the shower and that I always changed into some proper clothes as soon as I reached my room."

Namine nodded her head in understanding, it made since for Aqua to not want to have to walk around wherever She, Nihlus, and Ven presumably lived in nothing but a towel until she got to her own room to change.

"Anyway, he set some trip wire just outside the bathroom door and tricked Nihlus into standing in front of it right when I was coming out…" Namine struggled to suppress a giggle at what she knew happened next. "Go ahead and laugh, you may as well get it out of your system," Aqua said unhappily. Namine quickly obliged her and after giggling a bit at the images, that weren't of a perverse nature as those of you among my readers who share certain aspects of Ven's personality may think, that had formed in her mind.

"Right well, basically I fell on top of Nihlus and Ven took the picture with that stupid camera of his at the worst time…" While it was an embarrassing event to Aqua it felt good to tell someone else about it, mainly because leaving it unexplained made it sound far worse than it actually was.

"Ah…so, are you really worried about Nihlus at all?" Namine asked in an attempt to get back to her point.

"…Well, maybe a little…" Aqua reluctantly admitted, finally conceding the argument. It was official; Namine had managed to get even. "Seriously, without me to watch over him, he wouldn't last five minutes!"

Namine smiled to herself in a silent celebration of victory. She had actually gotten even with Aqua and made her admit that she didn't completely hate Nihlus.

"I wonder what kind of trouble he's gotten himself into now?"

* * *

Nihlus groaned as he felt a sense of detachment form his own body. It was difficult to truly explain, but right now he felt as though he wasn't even in it, like he was some kind of spectral wraith that just happened to be in some kind of a black void. He tried to open his mouth, only to find that he couldn't open it. In fact, he could barely feel his own body.

_'Ugh, Nihlus, is this what it feels like to have a hangover?'_ Shadow groaned, apparently in just as bad a shape as Nihlus was.

'_Shadow, what did you do back there?'_ Nihlus asked as he slowly regained feeling in his body, though he couldn't move at all. His sight was beginning to return as well.

_'I…uh, well…odd, I can't remember anything!'_ Shadow's voice was as confused as Nihlus was about now. _'I just remember getting furious after those things stabbed you and then…no wait, I also remember grabbing the one that impaled you, but after that I'm blank!'_

Nihlus's vision had returned enough for him to see that he was lying on his back in the Castle that Never Was. He couldn't, however, judge his precise location in the castle.

_'Wait, if you grabbed one of them and dragged him through a dark door that I'm guessing you summoned, then where is he? You "ate" him didn't you?'_ As Nihlus telepathically said "ate" he couldn't help but mentally shudder. When Shadow "ate" someone, he completely enveloped them and did something he considered so horrible that he never actually told Nihlus what it was he did to them. ("Sorry buddy, that information is for kids over eighteen years of age!")

The only thing that was ever left of someone "eaten" by Shadow was their heart. Regardless, Shadow had never actually eaten a live person before, only a test dummy to show Nihlus what eh was capable of.

_'…I guess I did. Wow, I really lost it, huh? To get so angry that you lose control of yourself and feel someone possessed you and then threw a huge drunken party…'_ Nihlus grunted out loud in reply, pleased that he had regained the ability to do so.

_'Shadow, how much longer do I have to wait before I can get back to Sora, Kairi, and Ven?'_

_'Oh, I'd say about an hour…or two…or three. You nearly died back there, even you, with the realm of darkness fuelling out power, can't just instantly bounce back from that!'_ Suddenly, Nihlus felt a pang of surprise from Shadow as he suddenly had a revelation of some kind.

_'Um, Nihlus, you know how I said that certain physical changes would happen because of you having darkness for a heart, and that one of those changes would be that your blood with literally have darkness in it because your heart wouldn't be there to pump it anymore? Well, you blood's just gone black…completely black!'_

Nihlus's eyes widened when he heard this. It didn't just mean that he simply had darkness inside of him…it meant that he had pure, undiluted darkness literally pumping through his veins!

_'Oh God…Shadow, are you trying to say that I-?'_

_'I'm afraid so, Nihlus…I'm afraid so…'_

* * *

Okay, so I was wrong about his chapter finishing the Pirates of the Caribbean 2 section. Well, I put in some fluff to help tide you over until I can get to the next chapter where I'm pretty sure I'll be able to get to the REALLY fluffy part that should more or less make up for the lack of romance in most of the chapters before this.

R&R please!


	18. Chapter 17: A Kraken Unleashed

Notes: Okay I really don't have much to say this time, but I really would like to take a moment to thank my reviewers. If it wasn't for you guys this story probably wouldn't have gotten this far, so thanks to Mooncry, luvablenerd, KeybladeAngel34, Hero of the hazard, and, Scorch406.

* * *

Kairi could see Ven frowning in anger as he sat, bored and furious, on the railing that was just in front of the helm. It had taken both her and Sora in order to stop Ven from beating Jack to within an inch of his life after he heard that Nihlus had been left behind as a result of Jack's scheme. He didn't quite share the friendship that Sora had for the pirate and had to be forcibly restrained by the two, more experienced, keyblade maters.

Surprisingly, he actually proved to be rather tough to restrain, partially because of his own ability and partially because of the fact that Sora and Kairi couldn't risk damaging the Black Pearl in the process of stopping him. Right now, Ven could have truly passed himself off as Roxas. His normally cheerful demeanor had been replaced by a cold anger.

"Sora, I know that Jack's the only one that can help us save Will, but are you sure that trusting him is a good idea?" Kairi asked as she and Sora stood next to each other, looking out at the pirate town of Tortuga. In order to get the ninety nine souls needed to get Jones off his back, Jack had decided that Tortuga would be the best place to recruit some poor saps to be the sacrificial goats.

Of course, Sora, Kairi, and Ven all knew that he wouldn't be able to get anywhere close to ninety nine people to join him.

"I don't trust him," Sora answered as he took a moment to look at Kairi, "but he's still a good guy…even if he's a sneaky, drunken thief at times!"

"Yeah, well I have a feeling that Nihlus is going to be pretty pissed off with that 'sneaky drunken thief' you and your girlfriend stopped me from clobbering!" Ven exclaimed as he jumped down from his perch.

"Wha-? We're not…I mean…" Kairi and Sora both started at the same time as they exchanged horrified glances.

"You may as well come clean…even a blind guy would know the two of you are together!" Ven declared, with a hint of his usual cheer returning into his voice. For once, he wasn't actually trying to tease them about their…feelings.

"Uh, well…Kairi?" Sora asked hesitantly as he and the auburn haired princess of heart turned to face each other. "Kairi, I…uh…would you…?" Sora's face began to turn pink at his inability to say anything intelligible to Kairi, despite the immense personal significance of the moment.

"…Y-yeah!" Kairi replied with a blush that equaled Sora's. Despite the fact that Sora hadn't actually been able to complete his statement and request, she knew what he intended to say.

"Ah, stop making idiots of yourselves!" Ven cried out as he shoved Sora and Kairi into a hug. "Honestly, without me you guys are hopeless!"

Kairi could feel Sora stiffen when he was pressed against her, but he almost immediately melted into it. "Kairi…" Sora said as his arms wrapped around Kairi's back as she did the same to him.

"…Sora…" she replied as she felt the spiky haired keyblade master rest his chin on top of her hair.

"Er, guys, you two might want to cut it short…Jackie's back!" Ven informed as he gently moved the newly-christened couple away from the Black pearl's railing in order to make sure that not just anyone could intrude on their tender moment. Ven wasn't a complete a-hole in these kinds of things…you could almost call it professional pride!

"Captain Sparrow!" a surprisingly feminine voice called out at the pirate captain as he walked towards his ship along with the four people he had managed to get to join his crew. The pirates that had been around since the cannibal island, with the exception of Mr. Gibbs who acted as Jack's spokesperson during the recruitment, had been busily loading the Black Pearl with various previsions.

"Wait, that voice…" Sora said as much to himself as Kairi as he reluctantly broke off from the hug.

"Come to join me crew lad? Welcome aboard!" Jack replied to the sailor that had addressed him. Behind the said sailor was a filth encrusted man who looked like he'd been vomited out of the stomach of some giant creature.

"I here to find the man I love," the sailor replied as he followed Jack. The pirate captain stopped in his tracks, highly disturbed. Ven quietly muttered something along the lines of "This world is filled with homos!"

"Well, I'm deeply flattered, son, but my first and only love is the sea!"

"…Meaning William Turner, Captain Sparrow." Both Jack and Sora muttered "Elizabeth" at the same time.

"Hide the rum!" Jack whispered to Mr. Gibbs before he turned to face Elizabeth, not noticing that Sora and Kairi were rushing towards the governor's daughter. "You know, those clothes don't flatter you at all. It should be a dress or nothing and I happen to have no dress in my cabin!"

Before Elizabeth could reply, Sora and Kairi had reached her and Jack. "Sora, what are you doing here? And who's this?"

"Well, this is my…girlfriend, Kairi." Sora replied, hesitating at the word "girlfriend". While he and Kairi had more or less come to terms with their feelings, at long last, neither of them had quite gotten used to being public about it. They would though, eventually.

"H-hi!" Kairi said as she shyly waved her hand. She was just as nervous as Sora right now.

"I'm glad to meet you!" Elizabeth said as she smiled warmly. "Any friend of Sora's is a friend of mine." At this, Jack tactfully coughed in order to get attention. "Oh, Jack, I know Will went to find you, where is he?"

"Ah, well, poor old William was press ganged into Davy Jones's crew after an unfortunate event which had nothing to do with me!" Jack replied, trying to weasel his way out of any kind of retribution that Elizabeth might try to bring against him. Kairi and Sora didn't even bother to tell Elizabeth what really happened, Jack had pretty much done it for them.

"Oh please!" Elizabeth's companion said in a cynical tone after he finished puking. "The captain of the Flying Dutchman?"

Kairi heard Jack mutter "Commodore Norrington" as he turned to face the filthy man. "What are you doing here?"

"You hired me," he replied, still in a bad mood. "I can't help it if your standards are lax!" Ven silently crept up next to Sora and Kairi while the entire discussion was in full swing.

"Wow, having this guy around's going to be just like having Nihlus back!" Sora simply nodded in reply. Ven's statement was ironic. While Sora and Jack were more alike than they cared to admit, Nihlus and the Commodore too seemed to have markedly similar personalities, even if Nihlus wasn't present for a comparison. They both possessed an aura of having been through a hell of a lot, as well as a huge amount of cynicism and sarcasm.

It only went to show that he and Nihlus were opposites in almost every way.

"Jack, all I want is to find Will," Elizabeth said with a hint of impatience as she cut in on jack and Norrington's argument.

"Are you sure that's what you want most?" Jack asked, pausing for a brief second as he seemed to come up with a new plan to get his hands on the chest of Davy Jones. He had told Sora, Kairi, and Ven that he had been planning to use the heart, which was in the chest, in order to force Jones to stop trying to claim his soul. However, he couldn't get his compass, which pointed to whatever the holder wanted most at the moment, to point anywhere.

When he gave it to Sora and Kairi, the compass simply pointed at either one of them depending on who was holding it. (Naturally they just claimed that the compass didn't point to anything for them as well.)

"Because I would think that you'd want to find a way to save Will the most," Jack continued. It was quickly becoming apparent where this was going; Jack intended to use Elizabeth to find the chest.

"And whoever possesses that chest possesses the leverage to command Jones to do whatever he or she wants, including saving brave William from his grim fate." Jack finally finished after giving a rather colorful summing up of the situation. (With a little help from Pintel and Ragetti who happened to be passing by).

"You don't actually believe him, do you?" Norrington asked Elizabeth with his usual skepticism. Even though he'd sunk about as low as a man could sink, he still maintained some form of pride. Besides, he was an ex-commodore, such legends and superstitions were completely foreign to him. Not to mention the fact that it was Jack Sparrow who was talking.

Elizabeth looked between Jack and Norrington for a few seconds. While Jack's story was far fetched to say the least, he experience with Barbossa and his undead crew had taught her that such super natural occurrences weren't entirely unheard of or unfounded. "…How do we find?" her voice contained a hint of skepticism.

"With this." Jack held up his compass for Elizabeth to see. "My compass is…unique."

"Unique here having the meaning of broken," Norrington commented. He had personally seen that Jack's compass didn't point north when the pirate captain had been captured at Port Royal when he was still a commodore.

"True enough, my compass does not point north." Jack admitted while Norrington went off to purge himself of all the rum and whatever else he had been drinking during his tenure on Tortuga. "It points to the thing you want most in this world."

"Jack, are you telling the truth?"

"Every word, love." Jack replied with a slight grin as he began to hand Elizabeth his compass. "And what you want most in this world is to find the chest of Davy Jones, it not?"

"To save Will."

"By finding the chest of Davy Jones." As soon as he said those words, Jack flipped the compass open and quickly backed away fro a reason known only to him. Elizabeth seemed to concentrate on the compass for a few seconds before it finally pointed in a specific direction. Jack, who had somehow been crouching by Elizabeth at one point or another, slowly began to rise a so as to get a look at the compass.

"Mr. Gibbs, we have out heading!"

* * *

Nihlus let out something that sounded like a cross between a growl and a groan as he tried to get off his hands and knees. He had been making steady progress in recovering, though Shadow had insisted that he was pushing himself too hard. The fact that black blood seemed to be oozing out of his wounds only lended credence to Shadow's belief.

'_Nihlus, I know you don't want to just sit here, but you can't strain yourself like this! Remember what happened to the very first champion? Out of all the others, not counting you, he was the only one to have black blood! Granted, he was only a dark champion for a few minutes, but his blood came literally bursting forth like a geyser!'_

"…Shadow, I can control darkness far better than he ever could…and besides, he still had a heart, so, he and I are totally different!" Nihlus shot back as he finally forced himself back onto his feet, though he had to be supported by two soldier-heartless in order to remain standing.

_'…You've gotten stronger.' Shadow said softly, abruptly changing the subject. 'Maybe this isn't such a bad thing after all. You're different from the wanderer, the first of our kind…'_

"I'm glad you approve," Nihlus replied out loud as he mad a blade emerge from his arm in order to act as a makeshift crutch. As the shadow heartless teleported away, the blade began to sink slightly into the floor, proving that Shadow's statement was correct. "It makes sense, though. I guess that means that Sora's training was for nothing, eh?"

Nihlus's joke was based on the fact that there was a rather sizable gap between he and Sora's experience with their respective abilities. Although it wasn't enough to make it so that Nihlus would be able to win every single fight, he'd only managed to beat Sora the first time because he surprised him by summoning the claymore out of nowhere, it did give him an advantage.

Still, between the recent training sessions that the keyblade master had taken, the fact that he had a few ideas as to what Nihlus's capabilities were, and Nihlus's own lack of true combat experience when compared to Sora's (though that last one was only a tiny flaw and was quickly rectifying itself) meant that any kind of battle between the two could go either way.

'_Relax, buddy,'_ Shadow said in an attempt to comfort Nihlus when he detected his current train of though. _'You have me while all he had is an idiotic keyblade that only knows how to choose the strongest person around at the time to wield it!'_

_'Hm, true, Riku is a living testament to that…well, I guess me thinking about this kind of thing is pointless. I doubt Sora would try to kill me just because of these…changes…right?'_

* * *

The trip to the Isla Cruces, were the chest of Davy Jones was apparently kept, had passed by without incident. Apart from Elizabeth, Hack, and Norrington having a few conversations, nothing of interest had happened. Right now, Sora, Kairi, Ven, Elizabeth, and Jack watched as Norrington dug in the sand for the chest.

Soon, a metallic clang rang out as the ex-commodore struck something. Everyone crowded around the hole and heaved out what appeared to be an ordinary sea chest. After breaking the rusty lock and shifting the numerous love letters of Davy Jones aside, they were rewarded with the sight of a small metal chest and the sound of a beating heart with in it.

"You were actually telling the truth." Norrington stated, clearly surprised.

"I do that quite a lot. Yet people are always surprised!" Jack replied with a grin. Sora summoned his keyblade and pointed it at the chest in order to unlock it, only to have a small honeycombed shaped barrier emerge when the light from his keyblade.

"It's a magic seal; I can't it until it's gone!" Sora explained as he tried to think of a way to get around it.

"That won't be necessary, Sora!" a familiar voice cried out.

"Will!" Elizabeth called out, elated, as ran up to and embraced her fiancé. "You're alright; thank God! I came to find you!" The two soon began to share a passionate kiss, leaving everyone else to stand somewhat awkwardly to the side. Sora and Kairi's sense of awkwardness was only made worse by Ven elbowing the two of them in the sides and grinning as a way of teasing them.

They two looked away from each other in embarrassment, but their hands did reach for their partner's.

"How did you get here?" Jack asked as soon as the kiss ended.

"Sea turtles mate. A pair of them, strapped to my feet." Will replied, echoing Jack's story of how he got off the island that Barbossa had left him

"Not so easy is it?"

"…But I do owe you thanks, Jack." Will continued, ignoring Jack's earlier question. "After you tricked me onto that ship to square your debt with Jones, I was reunited with my father." Elizabeth shot Jack a furious look, while she had suspected that it was Jack's fault that Will had been press ganged into Jones's crew, she didn't think that it was a deliberate plot on Jack's part.

"Oh, well, you're welcome then!" Jack replied with a slight hint of nervousness on his voice.

"Every word you said to me, every word was a lie!" Elizabeth angrily said as she walked up to confront Jack.

"Pretty much. Time and tide, love." Jack replied smugly as a means of explanation. "Oi, what are you doing?" has asked Will as Elizabeth's fiancé took out what appeared to be the key to the chest in one hand and a small black dagger in the other.

"I'm going to kill Jones," Suddenly Jack drew his sword and pointed it at Will's neck.

"I can't let you do that, William." Jack said with a serious tone in contrast to his usual cheerful one. " 'Cause if Jones is dead, then who's to call his terrible beastie off the hunt, eh?"

"Wha-?!" Sora, Kairi, and Ven all gasped out at this rather unexpected event. They were all unsure of just how to react.

Will slowly backed away from the chest as he sheathed his dagger. When it seemed like he was about to hand Jack the key, he instead spun around and drew Elizabeth's sword. Pointing it at Jack he said "I keep the promises I make. And I intend to free my father. I hope you'll be here to see it."

"I can't let you do that either, so sorry." Norrington declared as he drew his sword and pointed it at Will.

"I knew you'd warm up to me eventually!" Jack said as he advanced toward the chest, only to have the former commodore point his sword at him.

"Lord Becket desires the contents of that chest. If I deliver it, I get my life back!" Sora summoned his keyblade, followed closely by Kairi and Ven.

"Hey, cool it!" Ven cried out.

"We're all on the same side." Kairi added in an attempt to supplement Ven's attempt to end the three way showdown.

"The dark side of ambition, huh?" Jack asked Norrington with a grin, ignoring Kairi and Ven's call for peace.

"I prefer to see it as the promise of redemption!" Norrington replied right before he stuck at Will. His strike was blocked by Will, who then turned to block Jack's attack before running in between the two other combatants in an attempt to get a better position. He was quickly pursued by both Norrington and Jack, who traded blows even as they ran.

Sora was about to give chase and try to stop them from fighting, but he was halted when Kairi grabbed him by his shoulder and spun him around to face her. "Sora, if we join in we'll only make it worse!"

"Well, we can't just let them kill each other!" Sora replied as he eyed the three way duel. All three combatants seemed evenly matched, and were ignoring Elizabeth's attempts to yell some sense into them.

"Yeah, uh, quick question: what are we going to do with the heart if we can get them to stop fighting and open the chest?" Ven asked as he lightly jabbed the said chest with his keyblade, which he still held in his favored reverse grip. Ven's question had taken both Sora and Kairi off guard.

"Well, we can't just let Jack die, but I want to help Will too…" Sora said indecisively.

"Wait, why should we help Jack?! He's caused us nothing but trouble!" Kairi shot back in a fiery tone. She didn't share Sora's fondness for the pirate captain. She wasn't the one who went on two adventures with him! Sora looked at Kairi in surprise while Ven moaned and muttered "Not you too!"

Before any kind of argument could ensue, however, a dark door opened up behind them, instantly gaining their attention. "Nihlus, you're back!" Ven cried out at the sight of his friend.

"Yes, I am," he responded curtly. "Now where's Ja…ckie?" Nihlus asked as he leaned sideways to see the three way duel. Elizabeth had just tried, unsuccessfully, to end it by pretending to faint. "Alright what did I miss?" In about thirty seconds, Kairi gave an incredibly condensed version of what had transpired while Nihlus had been recuperating.

"Hm, so I'm guessing that means that you'd object if I killed Jackie and turned Davy Jones's heart into a heartless?" Nihlus was met with vigorous nods from both Sora and Kairi. "Then I won't…I'll just kill Jack and then I'll let Will free his father…I'll be getting revenge on both Jackie and Jones!"

As soon as he said this, he found Sora's keyblade followed reluctantly by Kairi's. She'd take Sora's side in the matter, but personally she thought that Nihlus's second idea sounded like the best one about now. "Nihlus, I can't just let you kill Jack!"

Nihlus's eyes narrowed seemed to glow for a brief second when he heard this. He suddenly grew a blade out of his arm and slashed at Sora, who jumped back at the last second. Kairi jumped forward with a strike aim at Nihlus unaltered arm, only to be repulsed when he immediately grew another blade to match the one he'd used to block Sora and parried her blow, causing her to stumble back next to Sora. "You've gotta' be kidding me!" Ven yelled in disbelief as the trio charged each other, with Sora and Kairi driving Nihlus towards the jungle.

They were almost followed by Ven, but he turned around in time to see Pintel and Ragetti grabbing the chest and making a run for the jungle. "Bloody pirates!" He and Elizabeth yelled as they began to pursue the pair.

* * *

Sora grunted as Nihlus shoved him away with a feral growl. He and Kairi had initially been able to drive him back, but now something had changed. Nihlus's eyes had begun to glow EXACTLY like a heartless's rather than simply LIKE a heartless's. They had become yellow, glowing orbs. Also, Nihlus seemed stronger than he ever was before. Something had happened to him when he was separated from the others.

Kairi leapt at Nihlus with an overhead strike, which was promptly blocked by one of the twin swords that the dark champion had exchanged his arm-blades for in mid-block. Nihlus threw Kairi's blade off his own and tried to strike at her stomach while her defenses were down, only to have the princess of heart spin out of the way before his slash could connect.

Sora charged and aimed at Nihlus's back with a stab. The currently feral champion of darkness wasn't able to spin around in time, so instead a tentacle ending in a shield emerged from his back. Though it blocked the keyblade, the force of the blow caused Nihlus to stumble forward, leaving himself open to a diagonal slash from Kairi.

Nihlus was sent flying towards what appeared to be a ruined church, which Will, Jack and Norrington happened to be fighting on. A several shadow arms flipped Nihlus in the air before he could hit the ground, allowing him to land on his feet. Unexpectedly, Terra and Riku, of all people, stepped in between Kairi, Sora, and Nihlus who seemed to become even more furious and animalistic than before.

"Sora, Kairi, what's going on?!" Riku asked as he and Terra drew their keyblades. Before either Sora or Kairi could answer Nihlus suddenly charged toward with what appeared to be two shadow spears. He seemed about to impale Terra with both after ducking underneath the chaser's counter attack, when he suddenly seemed to freeze after he heard what sounded like Aqua's voice yelling "Damn it, Nihlus where are you!" followed by the clanging of metal and the sound of Ven yelling a battle cry.

Nihlus seemed to instantly turn in the direction of the call and dash off to it, still in his apparently feral state. He could be heard muttering something to himself that escaped Riku, Sora, Kairi, and Terra's ears.

"Come on, we have to stop them from fighting!" Sora yelled, deciding it would be best not to question the good fortune of Nihlus leaving as well as Terra, Aqua, Riku and presumably Roxas and Namine as well were on the same island as they were. Sora didn't need to worry about the three men, as Will and Norrington accidentally caused what appeared to be an enormous wheel that was part of the ruined church to come loose.

They happened to be on top of it while it did so, allowing Jack, who had somehow gotten away from them, to walk away scot-free.

After an extremely quick and short explanation of what had happened Sora, Kairi, and Riku headed off to the longboat that Jack had used to get onto the island in the first place, while Terra headed for the gummi ship. The reasoning for these actions had been that Nihlus, Aqua, and Ven would head to one of the two locations and Jack would undoubtedly go for the longboat. Jack could be confronted and the entire group would be reunited, whether Nihlus would be conscious or not during the reunion depended on whether or not he could snap out of his current, berserker-like state.

And unless something utterly ridiculous happened, like being attacked by a huge sea monster, then everything would be just fine!

* * *

"Come on, hurry!" Aqua yelled over her shoulder as she, Ven, Elizabeth, Pintel, Ragetti, and Nihlus all began to run through the jungle. In short, a few hours after Aqua had been talking to Namine, She, Terra and Riku all heard the sounds of battle. Naturally, they went to investigate, leaving Roxas and Namine to guard the ship. They had split up, and Aqua happened to run into Ven, a woman named Elizabeth, and two pirates named Pintel and Ragetti fighting a running battle against a large group of bizarre and monstrous fish people.

Ven had taken the liberty of explaining everything to Aqua while they fought/ran. Out of frustration and something else that was deeply personal, she had yelled for Nihlus due to the fact the most of her magic was useless in the jungle. If she set anything on fire due to a misaimed fire or thunder spell, then it could wind up burning them as easily as the crew of the Flying Dutchman.

Surprisingly, a rather feral and animalistic Nihlus had come, running on all fours as often as on two feet, and managed to impale two of the crewmen. Although they howled in pain, they didn't actually die and instead struck at Nihlus with their weapons. Though it was a seemingly unimportant incident, it did give them some time to put some distance between them and their pursuers. With a sudden burst of speed, the crewmen managed to catch up to the goup for a few seconds, and in the following exchange (in which Ven took out the legs of a crewman with a low kick and then stabbed him through the chest with his keyblade) Aqua and Ven wound up being separated from the others.

"Aqua…Ven!" Nihlus growled before Elizabeth grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him along with her, Pintel and Ragetti, least he do anything stupid and get them all killed. Reluctantly, he followed, having regained enough sense to know that his friends could take care of themselves.

* * *

"Stop, Jack!" Sora yelled as he saw the pirate captain reach the longboat. He had caught a brief glimpse of Jack putting what appeared to be a jar of dirt in the boat. Jack turned around, surprised, but his shock at seeing Sora, Kairi, and Riku was quickly overcome by his surprise at seeing Nihlus, Elizabeth, Pintel, and Ragetti running away from a hoard of Davy Jones's crewmen.

As the three parties met, a battle was joined. It all seemed to be a blur as Sora stabbed, parried, and sliced. It all seemed to go by in an instant. He remembered seeing Kairi take down one of the crewmen with a slash across the chest, and then blast another with a firaga spell, as well as Nihlus repeatedly stabbing his opponent with his signature bladed tentacles, he seemed to have snapped out of his fury even though his eyes still had a glow to them.

Soon the same wheel that Norrington and Will had accidentally loosened came rolling onto the battlefield of a beach. As surprised as Jack had looked when he saw Nihlus's tentacles at work, he seemed even more surprised by Will and Norrington stumbling out of the wheel. The crew of the Flying Dutchman surged desperately forward, just barely ignoring their extensive injuries that had been inflicted upon them.

"The heartless I summoned say that Aqua, Ven and Terra are safe," Nihlus said abruptly as he was driven backward to the longboat along with everyone else in the group. "But, we can't beat these guys unless we can destroy their bodies entirely!" Everyone gave Nihlus inquisitive looks at this. Sora was about to ask Nihlus how he knew that, when Norrington suddenly began to mutter something about the chest.

Before anyone could react, the ex-commodore grabbed the metal chest of Davy Jones, which Pintel and Ragetti had thrown into the boat. He then sprinted right past the crew of the Flying Dutchman, only to be immediately pursued by them. "They just want the chest!" he yelled to explain over his shoulder as he ran for his life.

"I say we honor his last wish!" Jack commented as he began to hop into the longboat.

"Aye!" agreed both Pintel and Ragetti as they too joined him.

"Where's the commodore?" Mr. Gibbs asked Jack as soon as the longboat had reached the Black Pearl. Nihlus could be seen down near the front of the ship, he had used a dark door as he felt there was no need to hide his true nature to the pirates anymore. As result, they left him alone in his place with a mix of the same fear and reverence they held for the keyblade wielders.

"He fell behind," Jack replied as he held his jar of dirt close to him as if it was some great treasure.

"My prayers be with him," Gibbs solemnly replied to Jack's answer, though he only took a single moment o mourn the apparently dead commodore. "Best not wallow in out grief! The bright side is, you're back and made it off free and clear!"

Not one second after Mr. Gibbs said this, the Flying Dutchman suddenly burst forth from the sea, right next to the Black Pearl.

"This can't be happening!" Riku muttered s he stood next to Sora and Kairi, who both simply nodded their heads in agreement.

"I'll handle this!" Jack confidently declared as he walked forward, up against the railing of the Black Pearl. "Oi, fish face!" he hollered in order to get Davy Jones's attention. "Lose something, eh?" Jack was about to say something else but he tripped, falling sideways down the stairs that connected the deck with the helm.

"How did he get to be the captain?" Riku whispered to Sora and Kairi with a curious expression on his face. He didn't get an answer, though, as they were thinking the exact same thing.

"Got it!" Jack cried out as he held his jar of dirt up from where he fell. "Come to negotiate, eh, have you, you slimy git?" His voice was triumphant and mocking. "I've got a jar of dirt! I've got a jar of dirt!" He continued in a sing song tone, making himself look like an idiot in the process. A charming and lovable idiot, but an idiot nonetheless. "And guess what's inside it?!"

Unfortunately, Jones was either incapable of guessing what was inside the jar, or he didn't believe Jack. Either way, the cannons of the Flying Dutchman were suddenly exposed from underneath the shutters that contained them. "…Hard to starboard!" Jack ordered after a slight pause when he realized that his attempts to negotiate had failed miserably.

His order was echoed by both Mr. Gibbs and Elizabeth as the pirates struggled to get out of the Flying Dutchman's range. The ship made a sharp right turn, avoiding most of the cannon shells, but was hit by one which tore straight through the rear. By luck or perhaps divine grace, it didn't hit the mast. There was little Sora, Kairi, and Riku could do other than watch as the crew did everything in their power to make the Pearl go just a little quicker. Nihlsu could be seen finally using his tentacles to stay on his feet amidst all the jerking movements of the ship.

"Well, there shouldn't be anymore cannonballs!" Sora said brightly, trying to remain optimistic. "There aren't any cannons in the front of these kinds of ships!" He proved dead wrong, however, a cannon ball sail right past the Black Pearl, narrowly missing. He received "Thanks a lot!" looks from Kairi and Riku as they began to drag Sora to a safer location. Suddenly one of the cannonballs struck near the front of the Black Pearl, where Nihlus and another pirate happened to be standing.

The pirate was sent flying overboard while Nihlus was simply sent flying backwards onto the deck.

"Nihlus, are you alright?!" Sora asked as he rushed forward towards him alongside Kairi, while Riku tried to drag some of the other wounded pirates to safety.

"Yes, I'm fine!" Nihlus shot back as he got off the deck and shoved Sora, almost violently, away.

"Wait, you have some splinters embedded in you, let me he-" Kairi started only to be silenced by a wave of Nihlus's had as he spun away from the pair.

" I said I'm fine!" he insisted with a hint of venom in his voice. "I don't need your help!" Kairi seemed hurt by the rudeness of Nihlus's response as she and Sora backed away. Kairi's boyfriend couldn't help but glare at Nihlus's back as he backed off with her. She had only tired to help and he was practically yelling at her for it!

Sora was about to give Nihlus a piece of his mind, regardless of whether or not they were on the same side, when he noticed the splinters falling away from Nihlus's front, where they had dug into his flesh. Instead of being red, they were covered in a black, oil like substance that Nihlus extended his hand to after all the splinters were out. The black liquid seemed to crawl along the deck toward him and re-enter his body. The shocked Sora was about to question Nihlus about it when suddenly the entire ship rocked.

"We must've hit a reef!" one of the pirates cried out.

"It's not a reef, it's the kraken!" Will hollered, almost panic stricken. Whatever the kraken was, it was certainly something to be feared, judging from the fear in Will's voice.

* * *

Davy Jones smirked to himself as he watched his crew prime the kraken hammer. As soon as they were done, the kraken would sense the resounding submarine shockwave, and finally settle his dept with Jack Sparrow. The fact that it would also kill that sickening pair of children with the two key swords was an added bonus as well. They were so heroic, so noble, and so in love that it almost made him want to puke simply thinking about them.

Regardless, all would be taken care of in a few more minutes, and absolutely nothing would be able to get in his way…

"Stop, I'm afraid we can not allow you to do that," a voice rang out behind Jones. He spun around to see three men, drabbed in grey robes that hid their physical features. It was the one in the middle that had spoken.

"And who are you to think that you can order me onboard my own ship?!" Jones furiously asked, the audacity of the idea alone was enough to get his blood boiling.

"…Unimportant…" the man to the right of the apparent leader said. He seemed thinner, somehow, and physically frailer than his two compatriots.

"Bah, he means to say that a glorified squid isn't worthy to even know our names!" the man to the left of the leader declared with an air of self confidence. He was the largest of the three. Despite the grey robe that hid his features, it was clear that he was a bear of a man. The three didn't even seem to notice that Jones's crew members, the ones who weren't at work on the kraken hammer, were surrounding them with their weapons at the ready.

"Restrain them, we'll have them drawn and quartered after the kraken is finished with Jack Sparrow!" Jones order as he turned around in time to see the kraken hammer slam down, triggering the summoning of the kraken in the process. He heard a bizarre sound and spun around in time toe see the majority of his crew being somehow electrocuted by the man to the right of the leader. It wasn't until after the surrounding crewmen had sunk to the ground, unable to move due to the pain and shock that the man lowered his hand, causing the lightning to recede.

"Wha-, how?!" Jones started only to find himself flying through the air as a result of the man on the left of the leader punching him with borderline superhuman strength. Jones was too stunned to see what happened immediately after that, but he heard his crew yelp and be slammed up against the ship itself.

"Aw, these guys are a bunch of wimps!"

"Rombax, calm down…if you want to take out your frustration on anyone…" the leader voice didn't finish his sentence, whatever message he was trying to give Rombax had been given at the words "take out your frustration"

Jones, still stunned from the horrid blow, felt someone tightly grip his left, crab-like arm. He suddenly felt an agonizing pain as he, the one who had so cruelly tortured anyone who so much as looked at him funny, cried out. "Need a hand?" Rombax asked tauntingly as he waved the crab claw in front of Davy Jones's face. He has torn it right off!

However, the three men, if they were indeed men, weren't through with him yet. The leader drew what appeared to be a sword form the eastern seas, a katana, and thrust it straight through Davy Jones's chest, pinning him to the deck of his own ship. "Call off the kraken or I'll have Kinjex freeze you entire body…except for your head, which I'll cut the tentacles off of and have Rombax here crush like a grape."

Jones looked up with pure hatred in his eyes at his assailants. Whoever they were, they were using his own immortality against him so that they could torture him until he did as they commanded. "Why should you care what happens to one pirate ship?" Jones asked out of curiosity.

"I don't care about the ship or the pirates…but the teenagers aboard it mean a great deal to me…" the leader replied as he motioned for the wizard, Kinjex to step forward.

"…Cruelty…justice…punishment…" he said almost to himself in such a low voice that Jones almost didn't hear him. Kinjex extended his hand, showing his palm to Jones, as small blue light began to gather into it as he prepared the promised ice spell. After learning of the kind of things that Jones had done, he really, really wanted to use him as a training dummy for every kind of offensive magic that he could think of. Out of the trio, he was arguably the one who retained most of his humanity after the event that caused them to become nobodies…a thousand bad memories began to service at the mere thought of that one event.

"I'm afraid I can't call it off…so sad that such young people will have to die in such an unpleasant way," Davy Jones replied mockingly, taking satisfaction in denying his foes whatever it was they needed the troublesome children for. They deserved to be eaten by the kraken and forced to live out their greatest fears in the locker of Davy Jones. The darkness freak among them had stolen one of his crew, and souls to be hoodwinked into serving him for eternity didn't exactly grow on trees!

"I see…" the leader replied in n almost emotionless voice as he made a subtle hand gesture to Rombax. Everything went black for Jones as Rombax brutally kicked him in the side of the head, dropping the claw arm on top of the self proclaimed king of the sea's chest. "Alright, general, what's the plan?"

"…We leave this world…now" the leader replied as he walked over to the Flying Dutchman's railing. "There is nothing that we can do without revealing ourselves…and I have faith in the abilities of this age's keyblade master."

"…Should death…claim them?" Kinjex asked as he and Rombax followed their leader to the railing and looked over, waiting for their ship to come to the surface. They had seen and heard almost everything between Kinjex's crystal and their ship's cloaking systems.

"They won't die before our plan comes to fruitation, Kinjex," the leader replied as the cockpit of their ship became visible. "Even if they do die prematurely, then remember that time is on our side…" the meaning of his statement would make sense only to the trio of nobodies.

Almost without sound, they jumped down into the now-open cockpit where the current pilot, Reniex, awaited them. The sound of wood breaking and cannons firing was unheard in the silence of the enigmatic nobodies' ship.

* * *

"Get down!" Nihlus yelled as the kraken's immense tentacles swarmed around the deck. They had managed to repel the initial attack thanks to William, who apparently had encountered the monster during his escape from the Flying Dutchman, had ordered them to ready the cannons on the starboard side of the ship, where the kraken had begun its attack.

Unfortunately, the kraken wasn't as stupid as everyone had hoped it was, and it utterly destroyed all the cannons and longboats aboard the Black Pearl during its second and current attack. Right now, everything was pandemonium. It too chaotic for Nihlus to even know what Will's plan for repulsing this attack was!

'_I think we may be in over our heads!'_ Shadow mentally yelled, even though he had taken physical form. Right now he was protruding from Nihlus's back like Xehanort's heartless's guardian had during his final battles with Sora.

_'No going back now!'_ Nihlus replied as he leapt over a tentacle that happened to be feeling the deck for someone to drag into the kraken's underwater maw. As Shadow slashed at a nearby tentacle, Nihlsu saw Sora and Kairi firing off thundaga and firaga spell at every tentacle that came close. Nihlus's attention shifted to Riku as he stabbed yet another one of the countless tentacles that had made a grab for one of the remaining pirates.

"SORA!" Kairi cried out as she and he were separated by a fleshy tentacle that slammed itself near the two, sending both flying.

The kraken had felt that this ship was far different than all the others it had sank with ease. It was too big to simply split in half and the humans crewing it possessed weapons that stung far worse than iron and steel. Whatever strange weapons were being used against it, the kraken knew that would soon solve that problem when it brought one of its numerous appendages down onto the deck. The burning sensations had stopped and it felt a new morsel in its grip. Though primitive and animalistic, the kraken could be quite cunning when it wanted to.

"KAIRI!" Sora yelped back as he felt a tentacle wrap itself around his chest. By good fortune, he had lifted his arms out of reflex so that they weren't pinned to his sides in the process, but he couldn't reach the tentacles with his keyblade. Sora desperately jammed his sword into the deck of the Black Pearl in order to forestall what seemed to be his inevitable doom.

"Hey, don't give up!" Sora heard Riku yell as he felt his grip on the kingdomkey loosen. "You're stronger than that!" The kraken's tight grip on his chest seemed to weaken for a brief second while its pull outright ceased.

" Riku?" Sora turned his head to see his silver haired friend pinning the kraken's tentacle down to the deck by using the Way to Dawn. Riku simply grinned and nodded in response, though it was clear that he wouldn't be able to stop it from dragging Sora to the bottom of the sea for much longer.

"Hey, don't forget about us!" Shadow suddenly yelled as he and Nihlus appeared opposite of Riku with a large spear. They both jammed it clear through the tentacle in order to further immobilize it. "Sora…never mind," Nihlus said after a slight pause. He seemed to be somewhat conflicted about something.

"Kairi, now!" Riku hollered as he and Nihlus struggled to hold the tentacle in place amidst the chaos going on around them. The auburn haired princess of heart sprinted up to Sora and with her keyblade at the ready. With a furious yell she brought her weapon down upon the place where the tentacle was pinned, severing it in that one stroke. The tentacle recoiled, but the remaining majority of it knocked both Riku and Nihlsu away in opposite directions before looming over Sora and Kairi, preparing to crush them underneath its massive bulk.

It was suddenly blasted back by what appeared to be a large fire blast of some kind. The gummi ship that Aqua, Terra, Roxas, Ven, and Namine had been using hovered just above the tentacle range of the kraken, its cannon had smoke billowing forth from it, leaving no question about who saved Sora and Kairi.

Before they could celebrate their victory as Sora slumped down to the Black Pearl's deck, huge explosion seemed to rocket forth toward them, severely burning all the tentacles in the radius of it. "SORA!" Kairi cried out a second time as she threw herself in front of him in an attempt to shield her love from the explosion. The keyblade master wasn't even able to respond or try to get Kairi out of the way and to safety before he was violently thrown against the railing of the Black Pearl.

"Sora's view was blurry and everything seemed to be fading in and out of blackness. All he remembered seeing was a really bright light before he wound up like this. Sora couldn't really hear anything; most of his senses seemed dulled somehow. Nihlsu appeared and crouched down toward him, motioning to someone that Sora couldn't see. Nihlus's mouth moved as he said something and then Riku came next to him and picked up Kairi, who was limp even as he moved her. Sora almost felt his heart stop as the thought of Kairi being dead crossed his mind, but he was consoled by the fact that she somehow didn't have any injuries on her.

"You're going to be alright," Sora heard Nihlus say as he pulled him up from the deck. Shdow helped Nihlus support Sora, shooting him a cheerful grin and a thumbs up in the process. Sora saw that he and Kairi were being taken to what appeared to be a longboat; how it escaped destruction was a mystery to Sora. He felt being lowered into to it, and then everything went black.

* * *

Okay, that more or less concludes the Pirates of the Caribbean 2 portion of this story. In the next chapter they'll explain what happened on the Black Pearl, but that's not what's going to make it memorable. The next chapter is going to be the one filled with fluff…can anyone say dance party?

Oh, the wanderer that Shadow mentioned as being the first dark champion will also be explored in the next chapter. He's from a very unique and great video game that has a man named Lord Emon in it. Can anyone guess what game the wanderer's from? R&R please!


	19. Chapter 18: Kairi's Kiss

Notes: Alright then, brace yourself for what I think is going to be the fluffiest chapter in here! Hopefully it'll make up for the lack of it previously. Oh, and does anyone have any ideas on what to name Aqua and Kairi's keyblades? I have an idea for Ven's but I'm blank on the two girls.

Also, I'd like to congratulate TATheSunTwin on correctly guessing where the wanderer and Lord Emon were from. I didn't actually come up with a prize, but if you happen to have anything in mind, I'll see what I can do.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except my own ideas…and I didn't feel like forcing someone else into doing the disclaimer this time which is why I'm doing it right now.

* * *

"Hey, he's coming around!" Sora dimly heard Ven cry out. While he may have looked just like Roxas, his voice was different enough to be distinguished. It was much more cheerful and lighthearted, somehow. "Welcome back to the land of the living, Sora!" The keyblade master's vision was beginning to return to him, he could see Ven with his usual grin standing over him.

"What…happened?" Sora asked slowly as he began to sit up, he was in the bed in one of the three crew quarter rooms, once again aboard the unnamed gummi ship they had been using to get around.

"Oh, well, according to Riku…ah speak of the devil!" Ven cried out when he saw Riku enter the room, apparently responding to Ven's previous cry of "Hey, he's coming around!"

"Anyway, Kairi made this weird light shield thing that stopped the two of you from getting hurt from the explosion, Riku and Nihlus were fine because they both made shields of their own…well, Nihlus's was really just Shadow absorbing all the debris that flew toward them and Riku's was one of those dark shield things he can make whenever he wants to."

As soon as Sora had processed Ven's story, Nihlus, followed very closely by Aqua, came and stood just inside the room, next to the doorway. Aqua was dressed in her suit of chaser armor, however, she wasn't wearing her helmet, revealing her disheveled looking hair. Something must have happened to cause it to get that way…and given the looks she and Nihlus were shooting eachother, as well as the fact that faint traces of smoke could be seen emerging from Nihlus's armor, Sora had a pretty good idea of what happened, especially when he considered Aqua and Nihlus's rather antagonistic friendship.

"Ah…hello, Sora…" Nihlus started reluctantly. The keyblade master could see Aqua tightly gripping his upper arm from behind. "I'm…glad to see you're okay…"

"Thanks!" Sora responded cheerfully, not noticing the fact that Nihlus's mere presence seemed to be enforced by Aqua.

Ven turn to see his two friends, a mischievous grin plastered onto his face. "Ah, so you two finally resolved whatever you were arguing about? That's good, when I first heard the banging on the walls of Aqua's room I thought you two were-!" he didn't get a chance to finish his perverse accusation, as a small fireball from Aqua, who was slightly pink-faced from Ven statement, knocked him right off his feet without actually doing any permanent damage to him.

"Ven…shut up!"

Nihlus seemed unsurprised at Aqua's reaction, though, out of a newly developed reflex, a small shield of darkness partially materialized on his chest when Aqua shot the fireball. It vanished almost instantly, however. "Well, I just wanted to make sure that you were alright…Kairi's fine too, she just needs some sleep to recover." Nihlus then tried to back through the door, only to have Aqua stop him and shoot him a glare.

So much for the hope that Ven's remark would have cased her to forget about what she and he were arguing about. "Nihlus, isn't there something else that you wanted to say?"

The champion of darkness seemed to wince and then he turned his head to face Sora, though the keyblade master could have sworn that he saw a faint grin tugging on his lips. "Sora…I'm…sorry about…attacking you earlier…" Nihlus started, prompted by Aqua squeezing his upper arm in a not-so-gentle manner. "I…just kinda lost it…"

Sora nodded in response, a small smile marked his face. "Sure, it's not like anything really bad happened!" An uncomfortable silence seemed to fall upon the group for a brief instant before Riku spoke up in an almost uncharacteristically cheerful tone.

"Yeah, we're heading back to Radiant Garden right now; we managed to find something in the ruin. We decided that we could all use a break, maybe even upgrade this ship, it's really getting hard to keep track of everyone in here!"

Sora paused for a moment to study the faces of everyone around him, it was clear that they were trying to hide something. "Alright, what happened when I got knocked unconscious?"

Yet another uncomfortable silence descended upon the room. "Nothing much, Jack just left before anyone could say good-bye to him…he also took something important from everyone," Nihlus replied when it was clear that no one else was going to say anything.

"Oh, well, that's Jack for you!" Sora hopped out of his bed and began to stretch. There had been enough sincerity in Nihlus's tone to convince him that he was telling the truth. And it really was the truth…from a certain point of view…and if that person glossed over several important details in the process…

"Yeah…you know, maybe you should check up on Kairi, I'm not sure if she's awake yet, but I'm sure she's going to want to see you as soon as she can." Riku's tone held a hint of bitterness. While he understood that Sora wasn't likely to take the apparent death of Jack Sparrow well, the idea of leaving him in the dark seemed a little cold.

But then, Will, Eliabeth, and an apparently resurrected Barbossa had left to get Jack out of Davy Jones's locker…perhaps the troublesome pirate captain wasn't lost forever…

* * *

Kairi let out a small moan as she regained her vision. She could dimly remember several people crowding around her and saying some things about Sora and The Black Pearl, but not much else. Right now, Kairi felt utterly exhausted, and yet, she didn't want to just go back to sleep. Not until she knew that Sora was alright…

As if in answer to her thoughts, the brunette came walking in to the room, he looked rather concerned to say the least. "Kairi, Riku said you were alright, but I…" Sora seemed at a loss for words.

"I know…Sora," Kairi replied tiredly, a smile creeping onto her face. "I'm just glad that you're okay." Kairi then tried to sit up, only to slump weakly back into the bed, that light shield she used to protect Sora had drained her of a great deal of her strength. Sora however, simply sat down at the side of the bed Kairi was on.

"It's okay, I'm right here," he said as Kairi rested her hand on top his.

"I know…I just… I was so afraid of losing you back there…" Kairi seemed to be searching for the right words to express her feelings right now.

Sora nodded as small, but kind smile formed upon his face. While he knew just how Kairi felt right now, he had been separated from her twice before, but right now it didn't matter. Just being in each other's presence seemed to be enough for both of them.

"Sora…I'm…sleepy…" Kairi murmured as she felt her exhaustion overwhelm her. Sora simply smiled kindly as he watched his girlfriend slowly drift off into a peaceful slumber. Even when she slept she still looked angelic to him. Tentatively, Sora leaned forward and kissed Kairi on the cheek before he withdrew.

Small smile spread across Kairi's face as Sora got up and left.

* * *

Nihlus shifted uncomfortably as he, Aqua and Ven sat on one of the oversized metal wires that seemed to loop through the castle-like structure that dominated the city on Radiant Garden that Leon and co. happened to live in. The three of them had been able to climb on top of it with ease, the result of having been the ever avid explorers before the traumatic experience with Xemnas and his heart-ripping machine.

Nihlus looked to his side to get a better look at his two friend's faces, in an attempt to judge their moods. Aqua was dressed in her usual tank top and blue jeans; she had reluctantly taken off her armor since it wasn't the best thing to go walking down the street. She seemed to be indifferent to the happenings below them…Ven was a different matter all together, though…

The trip back to Radiant Garden had gone without incident, not counting the fact that he and Aqua beat Ven upside the head after he made a crack about what Sora must have been doing with Kairi all alone in a room; the fact that Sora had only been in there for about three minutes meant absolutely nothing to him. Naturally, they didn't bother informing Sora, or Kairi after she woke up, about Ven's indecent remark.

Regardless, they had met up with Leon and Yuffie just outside the castle, with Terra explaining that he needed to see Mickey in order to get the strange crystal-like artifact that he and Riku had discovered to work.

"I'm sorry, but he left after he got Cid to loan him, Donald and Goofy a gummi ship. He said something about visiting Yen Sid, but we haven't heard anything from him yet."

"Yeah, he seemed to be in a hurry!" Yuffie added.

"I see." Terra thought for a moment as he turned to face Sora, Kairi, Riku, Roxas, and Namine. "Well, I won't be able to get this crystal to work without the king's help, so we may as well upgrade the gummi ship while we have the chance. Knowing Mickey, it could take a day, maybe even two or three before he gets back from that wizard's tower."

"Hey, that's great!" Yuffie exclaimed happily as she nearly pushed both Leon and Terra out of her way. "That means that you guys can stay for the big party!"

"Huh, what party?" Roxas asked out of curiosity.

"Oh, you see, since everyone in the city's been working so hard we decided to have a celebration, we've pretty much finished repairing everything!"

"Hey, that sounds like fun!" Sora said a she felt excitement rise within him. He hadn't really gotten to celebrate anything since Atlantica, and even that was just him helping in the musicals there!

"Yeah, there's going to be all kinds of stuff going on! Personally, I'm looking forward to the dancing!"

"What!?" Nihlus suddenly exclaimed out of the blue as he jumped down from his perch on the oversized metal wire-like structure. "You've got to be kidding me!"

Everyone was surprised at Nihlus's reaction to the idea of attending what was promising to be a really, really good party. "What's wrong with having a good time, Nihlus?" Riku asked, voicing everyone's thoughts.

Both Aqua and Ven jumped down from the wire as well, they seemed just as puzzled as everyone else with Nihlus's reaction.

"You don't get it, do you? I can't dance…or sing…or even talk with the "normal" people…"

"Ah stop exaggerating, Nihlus!" Aqua said cheerfully as she gave him a friendly hit on the shoulder. "I'm sure you'll do fine!" Nihlus muttered darkly at his blue-haired friend's optimism.

"Well, you'll still have some time to decide, the party's not going to start until evening."

"Really? Well, I guess that gives us time to look around, I could get lost if I don't memorize which street leads where!" Ven suddenly exclaimed as he took s few steps forward.

Yuffie regarded Ven with a curious expression before a light of realization entered her eyes. "Oh, you're Nihlus's friend, right? I'll be glad to show you around, if you want me to."

"That'd be great!" Ven exclaimed as he followed Yuffie, ignoring the mutterings of Aqua and Nihlus who called him a number of rude things connected with his skirt chaser tendencies…

"Great, so, what are we going to do to kill time until that party starts?" Riku asked as Terra and Leon both went inside the castle, presumably to wait for Mickey as well as upgrade the gummi ship. As if in reply, Sora's stomach growled loud enough to startle several birds that happened to e nearby, prompting everyone, even Nihlus, to burst out in laughter as Sora grinned sheepishly.

"Well, I guess we all could use something to eat," Kairi said after she finished laughing. "We can't have Sora dropping dead in the middle of the streets!"

* * *

The restaurant they picked was an outdoor café, each table was circular and would normally have only have room for four people, but Riku had pulled up an extra chair at the table that Roxas, Namine, Sora, and Kairi sat at due to the fact that Nihlus, who had temporarily changed his armor into a plain black shirt and a pair of black shorts in order to avoid getting strange looks from any of the normal inhabitants of Radiant Garden, and Aqua seemed about to get in another argument over an offhand comments made by one of the waiters.

"I still can't believe those two are friends!" Sora commented as he and everyone else at the table watched Nihlus and Aqua glare at the ground, they were too mad to even look at each other.

"Well, I'll admit, it's not the most obvious thing in the world, but they're closer than they look," Roxas replied as he took a sip from his drink. "You were too busy gawking at the food to notice that when Nihlus pointed out that he didn't have any munny to pool along with the rest of us, Aqua just paid for him with her own funds, and then when Nihlus tried to talk her out of it, she just said that it was her munny and that she'd spend it on whatever she wanted."

Sora turned to face Roxas with a shocked expression on his face. "You mean I missed all that?!"

Riku chuckled to himself at Sora's revelation. "Well, you are the biggest sap in the realm of light, what did you expect?" Sora mumbled to himself, halfway wishing that Kairi would hurry up and intervene like she always did whenever he and Riku butted heads. Unfortunately, she was too busy trying to tempt Namine into trying some of the strawberry desert that she had ordered.

"Come on, it's great!" Kairi exclaimed as she gently waved her fork with one of the chocolate coated strawberries on it, in order to let the aroma invade Namine's nostrils. "It's not going to kill you if you only have one bite, you can't just live off of salads forever!"

"Kairi, please stop…" Namine halfway moaned as the alluring and borderline seductive smell of the dessert wormed its way into her nose. As Sora and Kairi's nobodies, she and Roxas sometimes represented the more mature side of their personalities, as often as they did their internal desires. While Namine tried to be a responsible eater, hence the ordering of her salad, that didn't mean that she was invulnerable to temptation…

"Hey, if you're not going to eat that, then I will!" Sora exclaimed gleefully.

Kairi, at first, seemed disappointed by her failure to tempt her nobody into falling to the desert side of the menu (A/N: Sorry, couldn't help the cheep and totally not funny star wars reference) but quickly spun around and jammed the strawberry into Sora's mouth, giggling at his surprised expression.

"That…was…great!" Sora exclaimed as he opened his mouth and shot Kairi a puppy-dog face in an attempt to weasel more of her desert away…after all, as Kairi's boyfriend, it was his duty to make sure she didn't get fat or anything!

Kairi let out another giggle at Sora's facial expression and was about to put another one of the strawberries into the gaping and bottomless maw that was Sora's mouth, only to be stopped by Riku. "Careful, the last thing we need is Sora on a sugar rush!" Kairi shrugged and put the strawberry in her own mouth instead, trying to stop herself from laughing as she saw Sora's disappointed expression.

Sora's muttering of "You're no fun, Riku!" only caused Roxas and Namine to start sniggering as well.

"Well, I know that we're going to that dance," Roxas started as he motioned to Namine, who nodded with a small smile. "And I think it's safe to say that you three are going too, but what do you think about Aqua, Ven, and Nihlus?"

Riku took a swig of his drink as he thought before he responded. "Well, Ven's a skirt chaser, and he seemed to be getting friendly with Yuffie, so he's definitely going, but Aqua and Nihlus…?" Riku took another glance at the pair to see that their argument had been more or less resolved in the fact that they no longer seemed to really be mad at each other. Nihlus opened his mouth, as if to say or ask something, but then shut it, apparently having decided against saying whatever was on his mind to Aqua.

Nihlus then got up from the table that he and Aqua had been sitting at, said something about having to go, and then left in the direction of the castle. Aqua actually seemed upset and maybe even a little disappointed at his departure.

"I'll bet you twenty munny that the two of them will not only go to the dance, but also go with each other!" Roxas challenged confidently.

"That's a sucker bet! You're on!" Riku replied, grinning, as he and Roxas both took out their wallets to prove that they could afford to pay when one of them lost. They were both surprised when Namine pulled out twenty munny as well.

"I'm with Roxas on this one!" she said as she and her boyfriend exchanged grins. "First thing's first, though. None of us can try to influence them, okay?" Roxas and Riku both nodded as the latter pulled out an extra twenty munny to pay Namine in case he lost…not that that could possibly happen!

"Great, now that we have everything straitened out, I'm going to be practicing my dancing," Roxas said as Namine followed him. The pair of soon-to-be dancing partners went hand in hand towards the castle in hopes of finding a room in which they could practice in.

Sora and Kairi exchanged looks and then got up to follow them, only for Kairi to stop upon seeing Aqua glumly pick at the leftovers of her food. "Hang on," she said to Sora as she walked over to Aqua, hoping to uplift the blue-haired mage's spirits. "Hey, Aqua, Sora and I were just about to head to the castle; do you want to come with us?"

Aqua regarded Kairi with mild interest and then shrugged. "Um, alright…is this about Nihlus?" Aqua's previous lack of life was instantly swept away.

"What?! No, I just…I was bored…" Kairi inwardly shrugged at Aqua's reaction as she got out of her chair to follow Sora and Kairi. Out of all the people she had seen, Aqua and Nihlus easily had the most unusual relationship. They seemed to hate each other and literally came to blows at the drop of a hat and yet, there were moments, such as Aqua paying for Nihlus's food and Nihlus being hell-bent on restoring her heart to her body, that said other wise.

'_Well, they're both unusual people, I guess.'_ Was Kairi's mental answer as she and Sora walked toward the castle, followed by Aqua.

* * *

Nihlus stuck his head just outside the door of Ansem's study and looked from side to side to make sure that absolutely no one would come and interrupt him at an awkward moment. After being satisfied, Nihlus pulled his head back in and shut the door. "Alright, Shadow, you can come out now."

As soon as he said this, the shape shifting being of darkness emerged from his body and turned around to face his host. "So, remind me, why are we doing this again?"

Nihlus sighed and held his head in embarrassment. "Well…After that…talk me and Aqua had at the café I decided that I might actually go to the party…and might, possibly, ask her to…dance…" His tone was almost forced; Nihlus really, really didn't want anyone, even Shadow, to know about his plans.

Shadow raised an eyebrow at Nihlus's admission. He had not allowed him to listen in on the conversation/argument at the café, so it must have been both important and embarrassing for Nihlus…perfect blackmail material…not that Shadow had much use for it, all he could really do was tease Nihlus whenever he got the chance.

"Let me guess, you want to learn how to dance and you're going to force me to help you, right?"

Nihlus paused for a moment and then nodded. "Yes, I found this book, so I just need a partner to practice with and I really don't want anyone else to know…"

Shadow silenced Nihlus with a wave of his hand. "Say no more, old buddy old pal, let's get this show on the road!" Shadow's form began to warp and change as he took another shape in order to function as a dance partner for Nihlus. As Shadow did so, however, he couldn't help but be amused at Nihlus's behavior.

He was the champion of darkness, and yet here he was acting, more or less, like a normal teenager. Granted, his personality wasn't exactly "normal" but the reminder that Nihlus was as human as anyone else was still somewhat funny, in an abstract kind of way.

"Ta da!" Shadow exclaimed when the transformation was complete "his" voice now being somewhat feminine. Shadow, had taken the form of a shadow copy of Aqua, mainly to help Nihlsu get any kind of nervousness out of his system. "Alright, let's get this over with, taking the form of a girl always makes me feel weird…especially in the area of the-,"

"I GET IT, I GET IT!!" Nihlus yelled as he covered his ears to block out Shadow's words. Shadow, being, technically, gender neutral had no qualms about talking about such things. In fact, the first few days after he and Nihlus were bound to each other were almost a living Hell for Nihlus in the fact that he always had to find someway to avoid Shadow's more embarrassing questions about the human anatomy, especially the difference between males and females.

Because Shadow didn't have any hormones, "he" didn't understand Nihlus's embarrassment and evasiveness, and so found another method of discovering how to perfectly copy the body of a human…he looked at the "magazines" he found under the organization member called "The Flurry of the Dancing Flames" bed.

Nihlus never did bother to memorize the names of the now-dead organization members, the only exceptions being Roxas as he was Sora's nobody, as well as Xemnas and Vexen for obvious reasons. Their names were just too hard to remember!

Besides, it's not like he knew any of them when they were still somebodies…

"Sheesh, I'll never understand why you humans find these flesh bags you live in to be embarrassing!" Shadow said, shrugging. "Anyway, according to that "How to Dance" book you found in Ansem's book shelf (I wonder why he would have something like that in here?) I, being the girl, am supposed to get like this, and you're supposed to get like that."

Shadow moved Nihlus's right hand onto "her" waist while position her own hand on his shoulder. "…Right, Nihlus, you aren't going to be uncomfortable with the fact that you consider me to be a guy on the grounds that I usually just copy your body whenever I take physical form, are you?"

"I'll live…" Nihlus replied with a hint of steel as he tried to remember what the next dance step was as he tried to navigate Shadow in between the mass of books that littered the floor. For the former ruler of Radiant Garden and a scientist, Ansem really did a crappy job of keeping his office organized!

Shadow suddenly yelled in pain as Nihlus accidentally stepped on her foot when he allowed his thoughts to drift. "OW! Darkside's blood, Nihlus, I hope that you learn very quickly or that Aqua has feet of steel, otherwise you're in trouble…and not in the good way!"

* * *

Aqua huffed as she walked down the halls of Radiant Garden's castle. Sora, Kairi, Roxas, and Namine were all busy practicing for their dance and were too absorbed in their partner's company to notice that she had left. To make matters worse, three fairies, Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather had decided to give them all presents in the form of clothes for the big dance.

Aqua was currently wearing, to her great frustration, a blue dress that went down to her ankles. It had a golden trim on it as well. While Aqua hated wearing skirts, the idea of walking around in a dress was the second worst thing that could possibly happen to her! She had very nearly told all three of the fairies of, but stopped just before it was too late. They had apparently taken a great deal of pride in their work, and yelling at them for making an excellent dress, for as much as Aqua hated it she had to admit it was a very good dress, would have been absolutely heartless.

Not to mention the fact that Sora, Kairi, Roxas, and Namine probably wouldn't react well to it, especially since the trio had made them their own clothes for the dance party…

"Stupid dress…stupid magic…stupid Nihlus!" Aqua muttered darkly to herself as she stormed through the corridors of the castle. The "argument" between her and Nihlus was something even she didn't fully understand, despite the fact that she was the one who had started it. The waiter had mistakenly believed her and Nihlus to be a couple since they were at a table alone with each other.

Naturally, both Aqua and Nihlus had strongly objected to it an explained that they were just friends…what got Aqua mad was the fact that Nihlus seemed appalled at the idea of being linked in such a way with her. The quickness with which he had protested as well as his general tone made it sound like the very idea sickened him.

Granted, it's not like Aqua actually liked him that way, but still…it hurt, a lot. Just what was it about her that caused Nihlus to react that way? Was it her personality, her appearance, or just the fact that she enjoyed his company, even if they always got into fights?

'_He's such a stupid ass!'_ Aqua thought angrily as she continued to blindly walk through the corridors. _'…Damn it! Why am I getting so mad about this? I don't even like him that way…I mean, I was protesting as much as he was…'_

Her thoughts were confused as a result of the hurt that she felt.

"…And this is where Ansem's study is!" Yuffie's voice echoed from around the corner. Aqua's eyes widened at the realization of anyone, especially Ven, seeing her in a dress. She'd never hear the end of it.

"Shit!" Aqua quietly murmured to herself as she desperately began to look for some place that she could hide. She quickly spotted a door and began to walk towards it as fast as she could; running in a dress was never a good idea, which was why she hated them so much in the first place. However, as soon as Aqua reached the door she heard a sudden and loud exclamation form a female voice.

"Ow, Nihlus, that last one hurt! I can't take much more of this!"

"Hey, I'm sorry. I don't have much practice in this kind of thing!"

Aqua's fear of being discovered in a dress by Ven instantly evaporated, being replaced by a blazing fury at Nihlus. To Aqua, those words could mean only one thing…and it wasn't exactly G-rated.

"Whoa, Nihlus…I didn't think that he would…" Ven commented as he and Yuffie rounded the corner in time to hear the exclamations.

Aqua, with her eyes practically blazing threw open the door, fists at the ready to beat the Hell out of both Nihlus and whoever he was with…

"What the-? Aqua!" Nihlus exclaimed as he and Shadow turned to face the enraged magic user. "Er, I can explain…!"

1 minute later…

"So that's what you were doing…" Aqua said at the end of Nihlus's explanation of why he was trying to dance with Shadow. "I…uh, I thought you were doing…something else…" Aqua lowered her head in an attempt to hide her blush.

Nihlus tilted his head sideways in confusion. He couldn't imagine what conclusion Aqua had come to, but judging from the murderous look she had thirty seconds ago, it must have been pretty bad.

"Er, yeah…I…well; I was going to ask you if…you would…go with me?" Nihlus just barely choked out as he looked away from Aqua, he couldn't bare the idea of looking he in the face after saying that.

"…Um…sure…that would be…nice…" Aqua replied as she too tried to avoid looking at Nihlus's face. Inwardly, she was just glad that Shadow had been nice enough to get Yuffie and Ven out of the room after he switched back into his standard form. "Hey, uh, I don't know anything about dancing so…would you…?"

"…Sure…" as the two began to take dancing positions, with Nihlus's hand on Aqua's waist and her hand on his shoulder, the champion of darkness felt heat rise to his cheeks as he and Aqua began to practice. A few steps later Aqua, who had kept her head down in order to hide her blush, by chance glanced up to see Nihlus's cheeks and bits of his face have layer of black on them.

"Nihlus, what's that on your face?"

He panicked for a brief instant. Blushing was basically when blood rose up to your skin, where it actually became visible, and since his blood had been replaced by darkness…

"I-It's nothing!" Nihlsu replied nervously as he willed the darkness back down, causing his blush to dissipate instantly.

This was going to be harder to conceal than he had originally thought…

* * *

Sora took a deep breathe as he and Roxas waited for Kairi and Namine respectively. While they had spent quite awhile dancing, it was so hard to tell precisely how much time had passed…the expression "time flies when you're having a good time" was appropriate.

Sora was dressed in a black tuxedo with a white shirt underneath, and Roxas was dressed in the opposite, a white tuxedo with a black shirt underneath. The fairies were apparently taking the time to spruce up Namine and Kairi's dresses.

"So, Roxas, have you seen Nihlus, Aqua, or Riku anywhere?" Sora asked, remembering the bet that the two nobodies had made with the silver haired keyblade master.

Roxas thought for a moment and then shook his head in reply as he began to pace. The party had apparently started inside the room that Merlin had been using his magic to renovate, but Sora and Roxas had yet to even peek inside to see what it looked like.

They were saving that golden moment for when their dates came.

Suddenly, Sora ran over and tapped Roxas on the head and pointed behind him. The nobody grunted and turned around to see what Sora was so worked up about. Kairi and Namine came walking towards the pair in all their glory. Kairi was in a pink dress that had frills on it's shoulders and Namine was wearing a white dress to complement Roxas's outfit. Both dresses reached down just below their wearer's ankles and had intricate patterns embroidered onto them.

They were breath taking to put it mildly, and that statement most likely just won the understatement of the millennium award.

"Um, H-hi!" Sora said nervously as he and Kairi approached each other, he truly could not help it. He had always thought Kairi looked angelic, even when compared to Namine (though him being her boyfriend may have influenced his opinion in that one area), but now…it was impossible to put in words. "You look…beautiful…"

Kairi smiled nervously and looked own at her feet. "Thanks…you look handsome in that tuxedo." Kairi slowly extended her hand towards Sora, who took it and began to escort her through the doors. He had been too absorbed in Kairi to notice that Roxas and Namine were going through a similar ordeal, though they weren't nearly nervous as their former selves.

As they walked through the doors they were amassed to see just what Merlin had done. The room was massive and had a golden paint scheme with several portraits lining the walls. Chandeliers also hung from the ceiling, only serving to add to the beauty. Various couples were already dancing to the music, though Sora, being the lovable dunce that he was, didn't know the name of the song, or even recognize its tune for that matter.

He felt a tug on his arm, Kairi indicating that she wanted to dance. Sora nodded in response as he took up a dancing position with her. He could see that Roxas and Namine were doing the same. While his and Kairi's dancing abilities were far inferior to their fighting abilities, they were able to make do. Those dance classes in school actually seemed to be paying off…which was ironic as Sora was practically dragged in there kicking and screaming, until he wound up dancing with Kairi, but still…

Sora began to feel a wave of panic break out over him as he realized that he wasn't exactly a candidate for "dancing with the stars". The half hearted glances the other dancers gave him simply to acknowledge his presence and avoid running into him and Kairi began to turn into critical glares. Sora felt sweat begin break out on his forehead.

What if he messed up on the next step? What if he embarrassed both Kairi and himself? What if-?

"Sora, it's just a dance," Kairi said gently and yet with a degree of firmness, as soon as she detected Sora's nervousness. "Just relax…no one's going to bother us." Sora felt his eyes soften as he drew Kairi into a hug-like step. She was always there when he needed that last bit of support. It actually quite ironic, really.

Sora, for all his strength and power, was rather easy to beat in terms of psychology. He relied on his friends for support. His desire to reunite with Kairi and Riku was what had kept him going throughout his first and second adventures. If it wasn't for them, who knows what might have happened…

As Sora danced with Kairi, everything seemed to be a blur except her. He noticed that Namine and Roxas were dancing as well, and they were doing so with a lot more grace than he and Kairi were…but that made sense as the two nobodies had a much easier time understanding and applying the "how to dance" books that the three good fairies had been kind enough to loan them.

To Sora's surprise he also saw Nihlus and Aqua walk in together, though they always stood at least four feet away from each other. Nihlus had altered his clothing ,using his powers, into a black tuxedo…there was not one bit of his clothing that was any other color actually. Sora later saw bits and pieces of the pair dancing as well, and derived a twisted form of satisfaction, despite himself. Aqua and Nihlus were easily the worst ballroom dancers in the area at the moment. Their dance wasn't nearly as elegant as the others, is was quick and had a lot of improvisation in it.

Still, they seemed to be having a good time, even if they were both trying to hide it.

Suddenly, an idea sprang into Sora's mind, it was perfect! "Hey, Kairi, there's something I want to show you," he said as they continued to turn in tune with the music. Kairi seemed surprised and maybe even a little disappointed at the idea of her dance with Sora being interrupted Still, Kairi nodded inn response as Sora guided her out of the room, noting the fact that Ven and Yuffie had apparently snuck in at some point or another and were dancing as well, in a manner similar to Aqua and Nihlus's.

Sora led Kairi through the corridors of the castle; it was incredibly difficult for Kairi to keep track of all the twists and turns. Soon enough, he led her up a series of steps and into a tower of some sorts. Sora eagerly pointed to what appeared to be a large window.

Out of curiosity, Kairi walked towards the window and peeked outside. The sight was breathtaking. All of Radiant Garden seemed to be lit up in celebration. Paper lamps strung together went form building to building and the structures were covered in lights as well. The fact that it was now dark only served to add to the beauty. "Sora, it's…" Kairi was at an utter loss for words at the sight before her.

"Yeah, I know," Sora said as he stepped up next to her, taking her hand in his as he did so. "…I just wanted to show it to you…" The two keyblade masters turned to face each other, their faces hovered perilously close to each other.

"Sora…"

"Kairi…"

* * *

"Hang on, Nihlus, it's right up here," Aqua said over her shoulder as she led Nihlus up a series of stairs.

"I'm right behind you," the raven haired teen reminded her. Aqua had discovered a room in one of the many towers of the castle during her round of exploration when she was furious with Nihlus.

"Okay, it right up- AGH!" Aqua suddenly let out a startled cry, prompting Nihlus to peek over her shoulder and let out a startled cry as well. They both quickly dashed back down the stairs with blushes visible, Nihlus's being a painfully obvious black.

"I…I think I saw a tongue!" Aqua finally gasped out after both her and Nihlus's blushes had receded. How were they supposed to know that Sora and Kairi were making out like that up there?!

"…That was disturbing…we're taking this to the grave!"

"Y-yeah!" Aqua nodded her head energetically as she looked at Nihlus out of the corner of her eyes; he seemed to be in thought.

"So, what's on your mind? After all that twirling, I don't think I can dance anymore and I can't show you the view from the tower since it's…occupied,"

Nihlus nodded in reply, he was just glad that Sora and Kairi had been too absorbed in their kissing session to notice them.

"…I think I have an idea…" Nihlus said as he turned to face Aqua with his arms crossed. "…But you can't tell anyone, alright?"

Aqua tilted her head sideways, mildly confused. She didn't understand his secrecy. "Uh sure, but what do you have in mind?"

Nihlus turned away from her as he silently opened a dark door, Aqua could see a pleasant grin forming on his lips. "…Sightseeing…it'll knock you're socks off…" he replied cryptically.

Aqua glanced down at Nihlus's words. She had worn her usual tennis shoes to the party instead of high heels or whatever other kind of formal shoe wear people wore to such occasions. There was no way in Hell that she would sink that low!

"You coming?" Nihlus asked over his shoulder as he extended his hand to signal Aqua to follow him. She simply nodded and took his hand as he lead her to whatever place that he had chosen to go "sightseeing", as he called it.

* * *

"Terra, what's this about?" Mickey asked as the chaser regarded the mouse-king with a grin.

"I'm sorry, but I can't let you interrupt their party just to tell them that they might have to put up with some insanely powerful foe." Mickey sighed and held his head at Terra's response.

"They are the keyblade master they have to kn-," Mickey was silenced with a wave of the chaser's hand.

"They are also Sora, Kairi, and Riku, completely normal residents of the Destiny Islands. It's easy to forget they are normal teenagers as well! Just let them have this one night to forget about their burdens, besides, you said that you and Yen Sid didn't really know anything about that one-eyed man, why should you bother getting them worked up over nothing?"

Mickey sighed and sat up against Ansem's desk. Donald and Goofy were currently resting in a medical room in order to recover from the injuries that the one-eyed man had inflicted upon them. That left him and Terra time to talk in Ansem's study.

"Alright, Terra, you win…but what about that crystal you wanted to show me?"

Terra's mood of good humor seemed to evaporate instantly. "I believe it's a record of some kind. From what I can gather it involves someone called "the wanderer" and…something, I'm not sure what it is, called "The Dormin"."

Mickey looked at the crystal as Terra pulled it out. Master Yen Sid had told him a great deal about such things, in fact, before he had left from his tower, the wizard had given him one of them.

He had said that only the most powerful of minds could truly wield the most powerful of the crystals, but that, while the one he gave Mickey couldn't e used to augment his magical abilities, it could prove more dangerous than any other.

Yen Sid had told him that the crystal could show possible futures…

It was great and yet terrible gift. There were countless times in which people had used such things and accidentally caused the more negative outcomes to come to pass in their efforts to prevent them. Naturally, Yen Sid told Mickey to not rely on it and only use it when he could get guidance from no other source…

"Alright, I'm sure I can get it to work," Mickey said as he took Terra's crystal and summoned his keyblade. "It should be ready in the morning, we can show it to them then," Mikey continued as a small beam of light shot forth from the keyblade and entered the crystal.

Terra nodded as he turned to leave, whatever secrets the crystal held would soon be revealed, maybe just maybe it would provide the answers he needed…

* * *

Okay, that might not have been as fluffy as you were expecting, but don't worry. I'm going to include some flashbacks in the next chapter to cover what everyone else was doing while Sora and Kairi were…(ahem) busy.

Oh, and for those of you with perverse minds, Nihlus really did mean sightseeing and not any funny stuff when he took Aqua into the dark door!

One last thing, though…to all of you guys who are favoring my story and/or putting it on your alert list, would it kill you to review? I'm not asking for you to write an essay or anything a simple "This is great," or "Your story stinks!" would suffice. (Note: this doesn't apply to everyone who's already been reviewing, thanks again you guys!)


	20. Chapter 19: Riku meets Monica

Notes: Well, I've got some news for you guys! These next few chapters are arguably going to be among the most important in the entire story. You know those intense moments of emotional turmoil I mentioned? Well, let's just say they're right around the corner about now…

On the flip side, I'm pairing Riku up with an OC, I really hope you guys like the way I handle it…their relationship is going to be a very interesting one...

Me: Okay, Riku, you get to do the disclaimer this time!

Riku: Fine…but you do realize that I hate you, don't you? I've seen the character sheet you've made for that OC you're pairing me up with, and I think she's the worst character that you've ever conceived!

Unknown feminine voice: EXCUSE ME?! You're the one with the effeminate hair due! And don't even get me started on those mean eyes of yours, not to mention that "I'm Mr. Grumpy Pants" attitude…oh, and your fly's undone!

Riku: No it isn't! And stop whining will you? You sound like my mother!

Unknown feminine voice: You didn't even look down! I'm not whining, I'm just pointing out that you're not perfect…seriously, you almost never smile! (Reaches toward Riku and sticks her fingers into his mouth, forcing him to smile by pushing the corners of his mouth up). See? Now you look slightly less ugly than you normally do! (Smirks)

Me: (Sigh) While those two are bickering I guess I'll just have to do the disclaimer myself…I, blackrogue123, don't anything except the ideas that I come up with.

* * *

_'Nihlus…Nihlus…wakey wakey…'_ the currently asleep champion of darkness heard in his mind. He could detect a certain sense of smugness in Shadow's tone, not to mention a tingling sensation in his right arm, it had fallen asleep.

Slowly, he opened his eyes and, without moving, took in his surroundings as the memories of last night slowly began to trickle into his mind. He was sitting on a couch; at the end opposite of the one he was sitting on, was Namine and Roxas. The former was snuggling on the latter's chest while Roxas's arm was wrapped around Namine's waist.

They both were still asleep, though Nihlus could see faint smiles on both their faces.

His gaze turned downward and his "heart" nearly skipped a beat. Aqua was half sitting half lying next to him, her head rested on a large pillow-like object that he had made out of darkness. It was supported by his right arm, which was now pressed against his body as a result of Aqua's weight, explaining why his arm was currently asleep.

They were in a medium sized room that had a blue and white paint scheme, directly in front of the couch was a turned off TV. Nihlus remembered that he, Roxas, Namine, and Aqua had been watching a movie of some sort be fore he drifted off to sleep along with the other three. His memory was quite blurred after he and Aqua had returned from their sightseeing trip.

"So, you're finally awake?" an all too familiar voice commented smugly from behind Nihlus.

"…Oh…hello, Riku…"

"I'll take that for a "yes", what happened last night anyway? You four just wondered into the gummi ship like you owned it and then fell asleep on the couch!" Nihlus winced at this. The memories of last night truly began to flood his mind…

* * *

(Flashback.)

Nihlus felt his grin widen as he sat down next to Aqua, making sure that they were at least four feet apart, on the cliff that overlooked the land of darkness, where the dark door he opened led to. "Amazing, isn't it?" he asked solemnly. Even though he had resided in the dark lands for about a year and a half, it still never ceased to amaze Nihlus.

"Y-yeah…" Aqua responded, her voice filled with awe. Instead of a black void, the realm of darkness, or at least the part that Nihlus was showing her, was in fact more beautiful than anything else she had yet seen, in its own way. There were large obsidian colored rocks that seemed to spike out of the ground, near what appeared to be a beach. Also, there seemed to be a series of plains below the pair dark colored grass with just a hint of purple, as well as several majestic trees that appeared to be made of some kind of black coral.

In short, the realm of darkness held an alien beauty that might scare most people, but to those with an insatiable need to explore, such as Aqua and Nihlus, it was utterly irresistible.

The pair just sat there looking out at the dark world for an untold amount of time before Aqua finally spoke up. "Hey, Nihlus?"

"Yeah, what?"

"…I was just thinking…" Aqua braced herself, expecting Nihlus to make some sarcastic and witty remark on the odds of her actually thinking about anything, only to find that her worry was unwarranted as Nihlus just nodded, signaling her to continue. "Well, after all this is over…what would you say if we went exploring all the worlds…just the two of us?"

Nihlus suddenly jerked and turned to face Aqua, utterly shocked at her words. "W-what?!"

"Well, I'm just saying that Ven never was into exploring as much as we were, and he and Yuffie seemed to be getting along really well so I just figured…" As Aqua said this she held her head down and twiddled her thumbs, she was nervous and a little embarrassed. Thankfully, the fact that the only sources of light in the land of darkness were a few star-like things in the sky mean that Aqua's blush, though slight, was invisible to Nihlus.

"…That would be great…" Nihlsu replied after thinking it over for about two seconds. Though he seemed calm on the outside, inwardly he was practically doing triple back flips. The two continued to simply sit there, looking out at the dark lands, before they began to tire. "Let's go," Nihlus said getting up as soon as he noticed Aqua trying to suppress a yawn.

Her peculiar sense of pride wouldn't allow her to admit that she was tiring quicker than Nihlus was…surprisingly, such contests seemed limited only to him and not countless other people who would happily compete against the blue-haired mage.

Soon enough the two were going through yet another one of the dark doors. Unfortunately, Nihlus's own exhaustion had gotten to him and the coordinates were slightly wrong. The two emerged from the dark door to see Roxas and Namine sitting next to each other on a couch watching a movie of some sorts.

Both Nihlus and Aqua tilted their heads sideways in confusion, only to have Roxas mouth "gummi upgrade" to them. Apparently those upgrades Terra was going to have done were rather extensive…

Exhausted, Nihlus and Aqua joined both Roxas and Namine on the couch and began watching the movie, only to fall asleep in a few minutes, with Nihlsu forming a pillow-like object when Aqua began to lean on him. To say that that event was…uncomfortable would have been an understatement.

It wasn't too long before Nihlus fell under the power of his own tiredness as well…

* * *

"Er, nothing important…" the champion of darkness replied to Riku, there was no need to tell him about him and Aqua's conversation.

Riku raised an eyebrow in response as he walked over to the TV. "Hm, you certainly picked an interesting movie to watch!" he exclaimed as he held up a DVD box. On it was entitled, in big capital letters, .Hack Trilogy. (Yes, for those of you who know what .hack is, I'm a .hack fan)

"Oh, actually we went to sleep before we finished it…" Aqua, Roxas and Namine began to stir, prompting Nihlus to have a mini panic attack.

'_Oh Aqua's gonna' kill you for this!'_ Shadow chuckled gleefully. Nihlus just ignored the remark and slowly lifted the pillow-object so that it looked like Aqua had fallen asleep away from him and not next to him.

"Well, you two look like you had a VERY good night!" Riku stated smugly as he eyed the now-awake Roxas and Namine. The two nobodies looked at him questioningly and then realized their current position. They immediately shot away from each other, faces colored a deep scarlet.

"Knock it off, Riku!" Nihlus grumbled irritably. "Either you came here to do something useful or you've been hanging out with Ven for too long, which is it?" he was too busy being annoyed with Riku to notice that Aqua had begun to move off the pillow he had made earlier.

"Alright, alright," Riku said holding his hands up in mock defeat. "Terra just wanted me to get you guys. He got that crystal to work and is already showing Sora, Kairi, and the king!"

Immediately Nihlus jolted off the couch, causing Aqua to fall right onto the floor in the process. "What are we waiting for? Let's go!" Before the enthusiastic Nihlsu could go more than two feet he felt an almost agonizing pain in the back of his head as he fell forward and hit the ground.

"Stupid bastard…" Aqua muttered darkly as she dusted her hands off, satisfied over her handiwork. "Alright, NOW we can go…right Nihlus?" there was a short silence that followed. "Nihlus?"

"Y-you knocked him unconscious!" Roxas cried out as he examined the unmoving form of the raven-haired teen.

This would cause a slight delay in getting to see whatever the crystal held…

* * *

Terra sighed as he examined the now-functional information crystal that Mickey had been able to repair by using his keyblade. So far, it seemed that they would just have to start without the others. He looked around Ansem's study one last time to see Sora and Kairi, who had changed back into their normal clothing, holding hands, Mickey just standing there impatiently, and Ven, who tapped his foot impatiently upon the floor. He wanted to hurry up and see whatever was on the crystal so that he could get back to hanging out with Yuffie.

The two had practically never been apart since their first meeting, the only exception being when they finally went to different rooms within the castle in order to get some sleep.

Ven held Terra's gaze for a few seconds longer; the Roxas look-a-like had gotten the three good fairies to give him an outfit change last night. It was basically a size-adjusted version of the clothes that Terra wore underneath his armor except for one difference. Ven wore Roxas's Twilight Town jacket over it; he claimed that "chicks" (no doubt referring to one hyperactive ninja) "really dig cool jackets!"

Terra wasn't sure whether to be flattered or insulted that Ven had decided imitate his clothing, believing it was cool-looking. Even if he was a skirt chaser, in that hadn't actually been flirting with anyone other than Yuffie as of now but a skirt chaser nonetheless, he did posses a surprising amount of combat potential…it really was a shame that he didn't train accordingly.

Terra sighed once more and then shrugged when he didn't hear the slightest indication that Riku, Roxas, Namine, Nihlus, and Aqua were just coming down the hall. "At this rate, I'll have a grey beard before we're five seconds into it; we may as well activate it now."

Terra's declaration was met with approval from everyone, even Sora and Kairi. As much as the two enjoyed holding each other's hand, there were other things that young couples did…Sora had really, really wanted to get Kairi to have a lick of the world-famous sea salt ice cream! Roxas had recommended it very highly.

Terra extended his hand to Mickey, who handed him the crystal. Through some device that escaped everyone but him, Terra activated the crystal and then took a step back so that he was standing in between Sora and Ven.

The crystal seemed to work like an incredibly good hologram generator, it seemed to morph the room into what appeared to be an immense temple of some sort. Still, it was obvious this was merely an illusion, as when Sora put his hand up against one of the walls in the study, he was stopped even though there was nothing but empty space between him in the strange temple-like place.

It seemed to almost be one, immense, room. There was a large door-like space in the far back, but it was too far away to see what was there. There were sixteen indentions lining the wall, all held a huge pile of dust and rubble, as if someone had taken a wrecking ball to whatever once stood there.

Slowly, seven humans began to materialize. Five of them appeared to be soldiers, considering the fact that they were armed with sword and crossbow. They each wore a strange mask that covered all but their mouths. The sixth was an old man; he seemed to be the leader of the group, a priest perhaps, judging from what he was quietly saying in a foreign language, it was a prayer of some kind.

Sora felt his eyes widen, as well as Kairi stiffen up and move closer to him. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder in response. On an alter-like object at the far end of the room, opposite of the one with the empty door-space, was a teenage girl, her precise age was difficult to judge but she appeared to be in the mid to late region. She had black hair that reached past her shoulders, and was clad in a plain gown of sorts. He facial features seemed to be slightly Asian, though not enough to really say that she was from the east.

What disturbed Sora and Kairi so, however, was the fact that, despite appearing healthy, she was unmoving as if she were dead. The fact that the priest was praying over her only seemed to reinforce this notion.

Their attention was drawn away from the girl when they heard startled cries from the soldiers. Turning their attention to where the men were looking, Sora and Kairi let out startled gasps and clung to each other even tighter. When you take into account that the two of them could face down heartless that would make even veteran soldiers soil themselves, them being startled by anything was a huge deal.

The sight before them wasn't so much as scary, but unnatural. A teenage boy, who appeared to be the same age as the dead girl, had somehow appeared into the room, by teleportation of some kind-judging from the fact that he was only now starting to get off the floor which he was laying upon. A swishing sound was heard as a sword; presumably the teen's, spun away from him and embedded itself into the ground, far out of reach.

As he got up, Sora and Kairi were able to get a look at the teenager, or "the wanderer" as Shadow would have called him if the being of darkness had been present…

The wanderer was clad in garments much like the ones the soldiers and the priest wore, though his were considerably dirtier. What scared Sora and Kairi was his physical appearance. His hair seemed to be black, with a hint of both grey and red, and his skin outright was gray. Small horns seemed to protrude from the sides of his head. In short, his physical condition had obviously been deteriorated by something. Before whatever had happened to him happed, he would have been a healthy, red-headed teenager.

Several shadowy outlines began to mimic his movements as he let out both groans and grunts as he struggled to lift himself off the floor, clearly struggling to make every movement. The shadowy figures looked much like shadow did when he took physical form, except for one difference. They seemed much rougher around the edges, one might even say incomplete. Also, they didn't have any distinguishable features, they were literally just outlines!

The priest began to speak in his foreign language, when, suddenly, subtitle like words appeared so that Sora, Kairi, Mickey, Terra, and Ven could understand what he was saying.

"I don't believe this. So, it was you after all!" the wanderer didn't respond to the priest as he began to continue to crawl forward towards the altar, and the dead girl. "Have you any idea what you've done?!" the priest continued, unabated. "Not only sis you steal the sword and trespass upon this cursed land, you used the forbidden spell as well!"

At this the priest made a gesture to his men, and two of them began to slowly advance towards the wanderer as he was just now getting to his feet. They each prepared their weapons, one with a crossbow and the other with a sword. "To be reduced to such a sight…you were only being used." The priest's word hit particularly hard with Sora. The wanderer seemed nearly identical to Nihlus in terms of his actions, that much was clear even if Sora didn't understand fully what was going on. Both of them had apparently embraced darkness in an attempt to save those close to them…whether or not they were "being used" was currently a mystery.

The wanderer began to practically stumble forward, his dead eyes fixed upon the girl and not the soldiers that approached him. "…Eradicate the source of the evil…" The priest commanded as one of the soldiers with a crossbow took aim. "Look…he is possessed by the dead," the soldier seemed reluctant to actually fire, even at the priest's command. The wanderer continued to stumble forward, the shadowy beings following behind, though they seemed to be in just as bad condition as he was, judging from the way they stumbled as well.

"Hurry up and do it!" at this, the soldier overcame his hesitance and shot a crossbow bolt, hitting the wanderer in his left leg. He let out a surprised and agonized groan as it penetrated his skin, the force of the bolt knocking him sideway onto the ground. Darkness seemed to spread from the wound, whether it was covering or outright replacing the wanderer's skin, Soar didn't know.

"It is better to put him out of his misery than to exist, cursed as he is…"

One of the soldiers with a sword approached the wanderer, who continued to hold his leg in pain. The soldier pointed the blade down at the wanderer's heart and lifted it over his head. For a few seconds, time seemed to stop as the wanderer stared up at the soldier.

A loud cry was heard as the blade was driven straight through his body. Sora and Kairi both winced and recoiled, finding comfort only in each other. Even if the wanderer had embraced darkness, he did so with noble intent. No one deserved this, not even for embracing darkness. A geyser of black blood seemed to erupt from the wanderer's chest as the soldier back away out of fear, leaving the sword embedded. Deep inside, Sora felt himself silently rooting for the wanderer, secretly hoping that he would start showing some signs of the power Nihlus had used.

Bladed tentacles, shadow-swords, claws, anything that would miraculously turn everything around. Sora may not have known what the relationship between the wanderer and the dead girl as, but he had drawn his own conclusion, heavily influenced by the auburn haired princess of heart that stood next to him.

The wanderer began to get off the floor as more and more black blood began to erupt from his chest, evaporating into the air instead of hitting the ground. Suddenly, Sora remembered the incident on The Black Pearl when Nihlus was wounded and was trying to hide something from him and Kairi, was this it? Was black blood really THAT bad, or did it foreshadow something else…?

The shadowy figures, which had been able to do nothing to stop the wanderer form being wounded, now, seemed to be recoiling in pain. There was obliviously a link of some kind between them and the wanderer.

He seemed to stumble forward a few more steps, the soldiers backing away from him as he did so. The wanderer let out a gasp and then seemed to reach toward the dead girl with his free hand, the other rested on the sword. He found some lat reserve of strength in seeing her and moved his free hand next to the other on the sword. With one, forceful yank he wrenched the sword out of his chest, and let out a moan after doing so.

This wasn't like those old stories where the hero manages to survive the horrible injuries inflicted upon him and then rides away with his maiden on a white horse. An appalling amount of the all too familiar black blood literally erupted out of him when the sword was removed. The darkness seed to spread form the wound, covering him like it did with his leg when it was hit by the crossbow.

The sword clattered to the ground and the wanderer fell forward, completely covered in darkness. He now resembled a more detailed version of the shadowy figures that had desperately tried to follow him to the dead girl.

The priest looked regretfully over his shoulder at the maiden. He seemed greatly saddened by the whole ordeal; a sense of betrayal seemed to emanate from him.

One of the soldiers let out a startled cry, followed by Sora, Kairi, Ven, Terra, and Mickey. The priest immediately turned his attention back to the wanderer and gasped. The now, darkness infused body began to literally grow bigger and morph. Insect like appendages emerged from the wanderer's back as the transformation began to happen. He continued to grow until he nearly reached the ceiling of the massive temple. This transformation was far grander than anything Nihlus had even come close to achieving.

The form resembled a darkside heartless without the hair and heart-shaped hole in the stomach. It was immense and had huge horns coming from its head, as well as huge, blue colored eyes.

"Thou severed our body into sixteen fragments for an eternity in order to seal away our power!" the immense shadow-being spoke. Its voice sounded like multiple men and women speaking in perfect concert, though the men were more numerous. The whole thing literally emanated nearly god-like power…and it didn't seem to be very happy with the soldiers and the priest who had tried to kill its apparent savior.

"We, Dormin, have arisen anew!" The priest seemed utterly horrified by the sight of the entity known as The Dormin. As intimidating as it was, he looked as though he were looking at the devil himself!

"He's been resurrected!" the priest cried out in horror.

The Dormin angrily slammed it immense fist upon the ground, sending vibration that even Sora could feel, despite the whole thing being a mere illusion. "We have BORROWED the body of this warrior…" It seemed furious and indignant at the idea of being accused of stealing the body of its savior.

Regardless of whether the Dormin was good or evil, it did apparently posses a very strong sense of honor. The shadowy figures that had been standing behind the wanderer began to run into the Dormin, merging with it and increasing its already invincible might.

"Place a seal over the entire shrine before it is too late!" the priest cried as the Dormin raised its fist over its head, preparing to slam it down and slaughter its foes in one blow…and then, everything seemed to vanish instantly.

They were once again in Ansem's study, and Nihlus stood at the door with a shocked, appalled, and fearful expression. "W-what did y-you see?!" he was dressed once more in his usual leather armor.

"What's wrong?" Terra asked as he picked up the crystal, which had dropped to the floor when its vision ended. Before Terra could react, Nihlus, or more specifically his arm, lunged forward, grabbed the crystal, and then crushed it into multiple fragments. It was clearly the work of Shadow, judging form the fact that Nihlus's arm was now totally black with darkness.

"…Did you see the Dormin?" the being that inhabited Nihlus's body asked in an almost dangerous tone, a far cry form his usual cheerfulness. Aqua, came in muttering about Nihlus being "extreme", she was in her normal outfit. Aqua was closely followed by Roxas, Riku, and Namine, all in their usual outfits, with the exception of Roxas who was wearing the organization robe that he had been using since being reunited with Sora.

"Yes…what is it anyway? It looked a lot like that statue in that one place back ho-," This time, it was Nihlus who acted by plastering his hand over Ven's mouth in an attempt to silence him, but the damage was already done…

"If you won't tell us, then we'll just have to go to your world next," Terra stated matter of factly. Nihlus's facial expression changed into one of horror almost instantly as he began shaking his head rapidly from side to side in denial.

"Hey, calm down!" Aqua clamped her hand down upon his shoulder. Nihlus spun around to face her with an expression of disbelief written all across his face.

"She's right, buddy!" Ven said cheerfully as he walked up next to Aqua. "Besides, don't you want to see uncle Ale again?" Nihlus's facial expression calmed slightly at this. "I mean, no one's going to mess with you or anything as long as you don't do anything freaky! Ale went around burning everything he could get his hands on and saying "Got it memorized" all the time!"

It suddenly hit Roxas like a thunderclap, and judging form everyone else's facial expressions they came to the same conclusion as he did. "Uh, Ven, what exactly did your uncle look like?"

Ven turned to face Roxas and cheerfully gave a precise and detailed description of Axel, The Flurry of Dancing Flames. "Yeah, he was a really great guy!" Ven seemed lost in thought and memories; he didn't notice the expressions of everyone around him, minus Aqua and Nihlus who were exchanging glares. "Actually, that's why we went into that cathedral in the first place, he just disappeared one day and we went searching for him for about…well, it was a really long time!"

Sora felt sick to his stomach as Ven continued to reminisce about "Uncle Ale" or, more accurately, Axel before he lost his heart…

How could they explain to Ven that his uncle was dead?! "Um, Ven…" Kairi started nervously. "Your uncle…he…"

"He sounds like a great guy!" Namine quickly finished, her own nervousness was apparent.

"Yeah, he was the best uncle ever!" Ven's cheerfulness and naivety only made the feeling of guilt even worse.

"Look, I'm not going back home and that's final!" Nihlus yelled stubbornly as he crossed his arms. "Nothing you say is going to convince me otherwise…nothing!"

* * *

"I can't believe I'm doing this!" Nihlus moaned as he followed Sora, Kairi, Riku, Aqua, and Ven out of the gummi ship. "Seriously I…shit…" Nihlus swore when he saw where the now-upgraded ship had landed. It was right next to the cathedral where he, Aqua, and Ven had been captured by Xemnas and Vexen.

"…At least we came back in style!" Ven commented in a very poor attempt to hide his true feelings regarding the situation. Not only was he somewhat affected by being back at the cathedral, but he was also quite miffed at having to leave without saying doobye to Yuffie. Still, the gummi ship was rather impressive. It dwarfed the standard gummi ship it had once been. It had a blue and white paint scheme and numerous weapons lining its wings.

Its larger size was necessary considering all the extra rooms that had been installed were needed to act as quarters for everyone…and there were still some rooms left over!

"…There's something in there…" Shadow commented cryptically. "Can't you feel it?" Riku turned to face Nihlus, a puzzled expression on his face.

"Huh, what do you mean?"

Shadow took several seconds to answer as the group advance toward the cathedral; once again they had split up in order to make the exploration faster. Apparently Nihlus, Aqua, and Ven needed to refresh their memories before they could actually lead them to the ruin.

That kind of thing tends to happen when you've been away from home for about a year and a half!

"…I mean, it feels like there's something, I can't quite place my finger on it, in there…" Everyone summoned their weapons at this, Nihlus simply made a plain long sword, whatever was in the cathedral, it made Shadow sober up…and that was practically a sign of the apocalypse.

"Wow," was all Sora said when they entered the immense structure. Even though the land outside was dead and barren, the interior of the cathedral was quite beautiful, even if it was dusty!

"Yeah…it's amazing!" Kairi said as she and Sora walked toward what appeared to be a large altar. They could now understand just why Aqua, Ven, and Nihlus had been so adventurous. If their world was full of sights like these…

"Ow…I remember that!" Ven said as he rubbed the back of his head and pointed a row of broken bleachers. It didn't take a genius to figure out how he had gotten knocked unconscious.

"Yeah, well, you were always thick skulled, so I don't think it hurt you too much!" Aqua teased. Nihlus rolled his eyes as the two began to have an exchange of freiedly banter…meaning it would only be a few more seconds until Aqua would be beating the Hell out of Ven. He glanced over to Sora and Kairi, they were standing next to each other with their arms around the other's waist.

Nihlus rolled his eyes at their display of affection it was like they just HAD to show off that they were now a couple after God knows how many years of denial!

_'Jealousy? That seems a little beneath you, Nihlus…'_

_'…What are you talking about?'_

'_Oh, come on! Now you're denying it? Fine, I'll spell it out, my emotionally retarded compatriot, you are jealous of Sora and Kairi because they can-LOOK OUT!'_ Nihlus felt a shadow tendril erupt from his back and yank him halfway across he cathedral, narrowly avoiding what appeared to be a large heartless claw.

"What the-?!" Both Kairi and Sora yelped as they both spun around in time to see Riku decapitating the heartless-like creature that had tried to sneak-attack Nihlus.

"That's thing was just like the ones in that ruin!" Aqua yelled as everyone took battle positions in the middle of the cathedral.

"Yes, that's what I was sensing earlier!" Shadow cried. "It's like darkness and yet, it isn't…we can't command it or control it…that thing was an abomination, it wasn't even connected with the realm of darkness!"

Shadow's statement only confirmed what everyone else was already thinking, that Nihlus and Shadow weren't behind these attacks, but if they weren't, then who? Suddenly, a rumbling sound was heard and a heartless arm burst forth from the ground. One of the heartless creatures climbed out, and was closely followed by even more of the things.

"Hm, they not connected with darkness, and yet they something born of it…" Shadow mused aloud as both groups prepared to charge each other. "…they have a very slight amount of light in them…are they lost ones?" The importance of Shadow's musings was lost as everyone charged the large group of rogue heartless.

Sora jumped forward impaling one when it tried to claw him, only to miss and leave itself exposed. He then spun and finished off another one that Kairi had been fighting by slashing it in the back when she stabbed it in the front.

Everyone else seemed to be faring just as well. Riku was rapidly moving in between targets, slashing by as he went. Although he didn't actually "kill" any of them, he did leave them wounded to the point where Ven was able to finish them off as soon as he defeated his own opponents.

"Why are they here?" Nihlus asked aloud as has did a back flip, finishing off one of the heartless that he had been fighting by impaling it with a spear in mid-air. "There are weaker worlds if these things are trying to get hearts…wait, they can't use dark doors…they were made here?!" Nihlus was snapped out of his revelation when Aqua stabbed behind him and muttered "Firaga" completely obliterating the heartless behind him.

"Stop daydreaming, you idiot!" Aqua scolded with a smirk on her face. She LOVED it when these kinds of things happened. Nihlus just rolled his eyes at Aqua's veiled teasing; most of the rogue heartless had already been defeated. While they could certainly take more hits than almost any other non boss-class heartless, they were woefully inferior to the power of the keyblades and Nihlus's darkness.

_'…That's why you like her, isn't it?'_ Shadow asked smugly. He could have killed the heartless that tried to backstab Nihlus if he wanted to, but he didn't in an attempt to tease him.

"What do you mean they were made here?" Riku asked as he advanced toward the few remaining heartless. Before Nihlus could respond, one of the heartless let out a shriek of pain as a metal blade materialized thought its chest.

"Monica, now!" Almost immediately several energy blasts, coming from behind the altar, struck the remaining heartless. Only one of them survived the assault, and it was quickly finished off by the owner of the voice that hade called someone named Monica.

"Ha, we sure showed them, huh, Lloyd?" a feminine voice called out from behind the altar. "Lloyd", as the female voice called the teenager standing in front of Sora and co. had silver hair that, while not as long as Riku's, was rather bushy. He wore a blue leather jacket and wore a pair of white pants. In his hands were two short katanas, not short enough to be wakizashis, but not quite long enough to really be called katanas either. His eyes were chestnut colored.

"Yes…that's the largest group I've ever seen yet. Frankly, I think we owe these guys our thanks." Lloyd sheaved his twin blades as Riku spun around when he heard footsteps approaching from behind.

The teenager that had been identified as Monica had blonde hair that seemed to hover just above her shoulders. She wore a blue bandana on her head and had on a leather breastplate, Riku could see the sleeves of a black T-shirt emerging from the shoulder regions of it as it didn't cover one inch of Monica's arms. Her pants were khaki colored and had numerous pockets and zippers on them.

She held a high-tech looking rifle that, surprisingly, had a blade roughly the size of a long knife for a bayonet. Riku could understand why her armor didn't cover her arms, if it did then it would only serve to hamper her aim. Her most distinguishing feature, however, was her eyes. They were a red light enough to not make her look like a demon, but at the same time they were dark enough not to be confused with pink.

Lloyd seemed to be a year older than Riku while Monica was the silver haired keyblade master's equal in age.

"Hey, what are you gawking at?!" Monica demanded as she lazily pointed her rifle at Riku.

"An ugly old hag…" Riku shot back. He already didn't like her attitude. If anything, Monica seemed to be amused by his insult and was about to make a smart comeback, only to be interrupted by Lloyd.

"Wait...have I seen you two from somewhere?" he asked, walking up to Nihlus and Aqua. Suddenly his eyes widened as he took a step back. "No, it can't be…you two are dead!"

Suddenly, Aqau, Nihlus and Ven's faces all lit up with recognition. "What- Lloyd? I never though I'd be glad to see you!" Nihlus said, utterly surprised. "Look, it's just a really long story and I don't think this is the best place to talk about it."

Lloyd nodded in reply. "Yeah, I'm sorry, I guess introductions will have to wait until later…right, Monica?" he added sternly. It didn't take a genius to figure out that the group wasn't exactly from his world, the starship outside testified to that. He'd already seen what these guys were capable of, and really didn't want to piss them off…

Monica sighed in frustration. "Fine, I'll leave Mr. frowny here, alone!" Riku's eyes glinted angrily as he lunged toward the blond girl raising his keyblade as he did so.

He did mange to place it against her throat, but felt the rifle being pointed at a very…sensitive area of his body.

"Try it, and they're guacamole!" Monica warned with a smirk. Riku let out an angry growl as they both lowered their weapons. Getting even with her wasn't worth becoming a eunuch…though if she kept it up that was something that Riku would have to reconsider…

"You know, I would have though that someone like you would have been able to take an insult better!" Monica exclaimed, roughly poking Riku's left arm or more specifically his muscles. "You're not the "strong stupid type", are you?" she asked tauntingly. Riku had to admit, she was good when it came to this sort of thing. He wasn't entirely sure whether he should take her remark and an insult or not given Monica's…unique personality.

"Monica, enough!" Lloyd barked. She rolled her eyes, shrugged and then walked past Riku, shooting him a triumphant look in the process, and moved to exit the cathedral.

"Alright, I get it, Lloyd…but I think they owe us for ruining our turn to patrol! It's the best part of the day! I was just making up for some lost fun! They killed the monsters, and by extension my source of fun, so I just mess around with one of them in return!"

Sora decided to take this opportunity to ask Nihlus something that had been on his mind ever since Riku and Monica's exchange. "Hey, are most of the people here like her?"

"…No, why?"

"I was just curious…if they were, then Riku would really be in trouble!" Nihlus shrugged in response. So far, nothing REALLY bad had happened since had arrived back home…but would it stay that way? Regardless, all they had to do now to find out what was going on was gather up the rest of the group and pay his old town a visit…somehow, Nihlus could just feel that something terrible was just waiting on the horizon.

…But that was probably just his cynical side speaking…right?

* * *

Okay, now you finally met Riku's future girlfriend! Do you guys like her, or did I really screw up on her personality and appearance? Well, just so you know what's in store next, you know that other personality that Shadow adopted when Nihlus was about to die back in the Pirates of the Caribbean 2 segment? Well, let's just say that it is going to make Sora, Kairi, Riku, Ven, and Aqua's life in particular miserable…

Notice how I didn't include Nihlus on that list…R&R, please!


	21. Chapter 20: A Most Welcome Present

Notes: Alright, this chapter will be starting a major turning point for Sora and co. Soon, Keyblade Master Xehanort is going to be messing with everyone, especially Riku's, heads…I kinda got the impression form the trailer that he is one cruel guy…

On the plus side, for those of you who like Monica and Riku, the two of them should be getting a fair amount of fluff…if you can call their interactions fluffy. Since Monica got introduced later than most OCs with her personality that are going to be paired with Riku I'm going to have to fast forward their relationship just a tad…don't worry, they won't be a couple for awhile, so it shouldn't feel either rushed or fake!

Me: Okay, Nihlus, it's your turn again since certain events in this chapter are going to put you at odds with everyone…

Nihlus…No, I won't do it unless you promise to undo all that terrible stuff that you're planning…

Me: No can do! There are some things that even I, the author, can't reverse, as you will soon find out…at least this whole thing will end on a happy note…maybe…

Nihlus: Fine…asshole…Blackrogue123 doesn't own anything except his OCs and ideas…

Shadow: And I own your sssoul…and the cookies…mussstn't forget the cookiesss!!

Nihlus:…Shadow, are you feeling alright?

Shadow: Ow, Nihlus, my head…it feels like someone hit it with a sledgehammer…so what'd I miss?

* * *

Sora walked with his hands behind his head in his trademark pose as Lloyd lead the entire group towards his hometown. They had met up with Terra, Roxas, and Namine almost immediately after they left the cathedral. The facial expressions of both Lloyd and Monica when they realized that Ven and Roxas were totally identical except for their clothes and attitudes were absolutely priceless!

It had been nearly impossible for Nihlus to convince Lloyd to wait until hey got back in town for the summery of all that had happened. From what Sora could understand, from Aqua, Ven and Nihlus's interactions with him, Lloyd apparently acted as something of a big brother to them before they had their hearts ripped out by Xemnas…a big brother that tried (and failed) to curb their rule-breaking streak.

'_Sora…'_ the keyblade master stopped in his tracks for a moment when he realized that Nihlus was trying to talk to him through their link._ 'Please, don't tell anyone about Shadow or the heartless…there's no telling how they might react….'_

Sora responded with what would be the mental equivalent of a nod. He had gotten used to Nihlus's attachment to darkness, but it was still disturbing, even for him, to see his counterpart's powers at work. Even Sora was able to figure out how a bunch of people who had been fighting off heartless, rogue heartless that Shadow said weren't part of the realm of darkness but heartless nonetheless, would react to Nihlus's…talents…

_'…Thank you…'_ While his words were simple, Nihlus's emotions blatantly indicated the true depth of his thankfulness far more than he would ever be willing to admit..

"Uh, not this again!" Kairi moaned as she fell in step next to Sora, her eyes were fixed upon Riku and Monica. The two had been making numerous offhand comments that were clearly meant to insult each other in just about everyway possible, from their fashion sense (or lack thereof) to the odds of them getting a pie in the face because no one could stand looking at it any longer…that latter being used when all other ideas were exhausted.

In short, their exchanges were really getting on everyone's nerves…whenever Lloyd ordered Monica to stop; Riku would just make a comeback and trigger yet another exchange. The only time they seemed to be at peace was when Monica had been admiring Namine's armor/upgraded dress, and even that had only lasted for about thirty seconds. "Alright, I'll tell ya' what," Monica started as she unslung her rifle and turned to face Riku. "I'll stop calling your mother all that rude stuff, if you can beat me in a fight!"

Riku stopped and thought for a moment. "That's not good enough…if I win, I get that bandanna of yours…and you'll have to shut up for the rest of the trip!" Both Lloyd and Monica gasped when Riku mentioned him keeping the latter's bandanna, her hand shot up to it out of reflex. The entire party had stopped to see how this would end.

"…Alright fine…but I get to take something from you if I win…"

"And what's that?"

"…Your pants…" Riku was as surprised as everyone else at Monica's unusual terms for the bet. "These are the only pair I have!" she said as she motioned to her shorts with a sweeping gesture. "Yours look like they'll fit me just fine…why are you looking at me like that?" Indeed, Riku's expression was one of embarrassment mixed with horror. He dimly noted Lloyd smacking his own head with his right hand and muttering something to himself about Monica's behavior.

Riku couldn't help but admire the guy for putting up with this girl for God knows how long!

"…Fine…" Riku finally replied as he spun around and walked away from Monica, partially to put some space between them so that they could actually fight and partially to hide the extremely faint blush that had materialized on his face.

In contrast, Monica grinned almost manically as she ran in the opposite direction of Riku. While she was a formidable melee combatant, she had seen just what that weird sword of his could do, even if she and Lloyd arrived at the very end of the fight between the heartless and keyblade masters! "Alright, Riky, tell me when you're ready…and don't wet MY new pair of pants!"

Riku glared back at her in reply. He would just have to show her the old fashioned way why no one messed with him…

Everyone else got out of the way of the two combatants; there was no hope of stopping them now. Monica started the fight by aiming and firing a shot at Riku, which he managed to dodge. Monica continued to fire shots at Riku, whose dodges became narrower and narrower as he got closer to her.

The blonde grinned and aimed one last time as Riku closed to a range of several meters, Monica had him now! She fired an energy blast from her rifle; it was aimed at Riku's chest. Apart from the fact that her rifle was easily one of the most advanced weapons on this world, Monica was also confident of her victory because, at this range, it would be impossible for even him to dodge her shots!

To her utter dismay, Riku smirked and raised a honeycombed shield, one of his more common techniques: "Dark Shield", and deflected the shot so that it hit the ground instead of him. He then took a swipe at her with his keyblade, which Monica just barely managed to block with her rifle. Riku just tauntingly looked at her with his smirk plastered on his face. He excelled in melee combat, and however good Monica may have been, there was no way she was nearly as good as him. If their skill difference didn't put Monica at a bad enough disadvantage, the fact that her rifle wasn't as suited to melee combat as well as The Way to Dawn was.

Riku jerked away in order to break away from the deadlock and then launched an upwards diagonal strike against his opponent. Monica managed to catch his keyblade with her bayonet and tried to disarm his by twisting both their weapons and firing when her rifle was pointed at him, only to have Riku himself twist out of the way of the shot and wrench her rifle from her grip. He smirked and hit Monica in the stomach with a kick before she could recover.

Monica hit the ground with a grunt, though she managed to remain on her feet. As much as it pained her to admit it, she had sorely underestimated Riku…not that she'd ever let him know that! When Riku made a thrust at her neck in an attempt to force her to surrender, Monica leaned sideways as she got back onto her feet, narrowly avoiding the attack.

Despite her rather impressive dodge, Riku seemed understandably unconcerned. He had already disarmed her, and her rifle had landed far out of Monica's reach. Riku jumped back and aimed several slashes at Monica, only to have her duck, twist, and jump over all of them in a display of her formidable capabilities. Still, it was a lost cause as she was beginning to tire, and there was no way that even Monica would be able to dodge Riku's blows for more than thirty seconds. With no other alternative and filled with a desperate need to win, Monic jumped back to avoid Riku's latest attack, and surged forward, catching the silver-haired keyblade master off-guard.

It was almost suicide, doing so, but that was what allowed it to succeed. Riku never saw it coming.

His eyes widened as Monica tackled him, sending them both tumbling onto the ground. Riku was too surprised to try to wrestle out of Monica's hold, it wasn't until she pinned him to the ground by his arms and was looking down on him with a smirk on her face.

"Looks like I win, Mr. Frowny!" Riku scowled in reply, though inwardly he was sweating buckets. Did Monica realize just how close their bodies were because of the way that she had pinned him down? "So, do you give up yet, or am I going to have to sit on you like this for the next hour until you admit defeat?" her voice was full of satisfaction and, in Riku's opinion, a mocking tone.

Mentally cursing his hormones for allowing him to be distracted by…other thoughts, Riku slightly shifted his keyblade while he glared at Monica in order to keep her attention. Judging from the pressure on his arms he, wouldn't be able to get away from her through sheer brute strength, the fact that she was currently on top of him, therefore having the advantage for this scenario, as well as her own strength meant he wouldn't be able to simply wrestle away from her.

Still, Monica was too busy looking satisfied at the glare she had elicited form Riku. It was so fun irritating him! She didn't notice that the corners of his mouth had begun to curve into a smirk as The Way to Dawn was pointed at her. Monica was suddenly shot off Riku by a Dark Aura attack; she literally had no idea what hit her!

She was too dazed to do anything as Riku stood over her and pointed his keyblade at her throat. "You lose…" was all he said. The smirk he wore on his face pretty much summed up what he was feeling about now. "Now hand over the bandana,"

"Wha-?" Monica seemed to be shocked at not only losing, but also the prospect of losing the bandana she wore on her head. "But…I…take it…" She finally said as she shoved Riku's keyblade away from her throat.

"Monica!" Lloyd exclaimed in surprise, only to be silenced with a wave of the blonde's hand as she moved to pick up her rifle.

"It's alright…" her normal air of cheerfulness had evaporated the moment she realized that she had to give up her bandana. "Here, Riku…" Monica said as she removed her most prized accessory from her head, exposing the rest of her hair for the first time since she had meet Sora and co.

Riku couldn't help but feel a hint of guilt as Monica reluctantly handed him her bandana. He had only wanted to win it to hurt Monica's pride; he didn't think that it actually meant anything to her! He was about to offer it back to her when she roughly placed a finger over his mouth before he could actually say anything to explain his actions.

"Oh no you don't, Riku," Monica said in a serious tone. It was the first time that she had actually called him by his name rather than one of the many nicknames that she had come up with for him. "You won it fair and square, so I'm not going to just take it back…I'm going to take it from you the day I beat you!" some of Monica's "normal" demeanor seemed to return as she said this.

Suddenly she grabbed Riku by the collar and dragged him down so that their faces were uncomfortably close. "So you'd better keep it safe, alright? 'Cause I'm not going to leave you until I get it back!" Riku nodded weakly in response, he was surprised and once again cursing his hormones for the effects they were having, namely the feeling all tingly and all around weird, not to mention hot in the face. Monica smirked and then released Riku, satisfied that her bandana would be kept safe.

She didn't even notice the effects that her lack of respect for personal space had on Riku…

The silver haired keyblade master looked down at his prize as Monica turned away from him. He then tied it around his neck; it was the safest place he could think of at the moment. Riku may not have liked Monica much, but he wasn't about to let that break any kind of promises he made, even if they were to her. "Hey, Lloyd, can I ask you something?"

Lloyd regarded Riku curiously for a second and then nodded. "Alright, what exactly does this thing mean to Monica?" Lloyd was obviously conflicted by the question as the entire party followed behind the two silver headed teens.

"A lot…I'm not sure about the specifics, she never told me anything apart from that."

"Oh, I see," Riku sighed, disappointed. "Alright, then, does she have any regard for personal space?" A small grin etched across Lloyd's lips as he chuckled. "None at all…especially when she's in a fight!"

* * *

Mickey sighed as he closed yet another one of Ansem's books that lay upon the former ruler of Radiant Garden's desk. He had been pouring through them practically nonstop since everyone else had left for Nihlus, Ven, and Aqua's world (they didn't have a name for it, as on the navigation computer Nihlus had marked it "Home, Danger, do not come here" on the navigation computer).

Mickey was desperately trying to find out anything and everything he could about the one eyed man that had defeated Master Yen Sid and sustained no visible injuries in doing so. Granted, while master Yen Sid was arguably the best wizard around (he and Merlin had yet to actually compete, and then there was the possibility of some unknown wizard running about…) he wasn't necessarily the best battle mage. He focused on all areas of magic rather than simply how to throw fireballs at enemies, though he was still a formidable foe. While the one eyed man wasn't quite as god-like as he initially appeared, he was undoubtedly the single most powerful being that Mickey had yet seen or heard of.

Not to mention his apparent immortality, assuming Yen Sid's claim of him being some kind of hero from an ancient legend. Still, as skeptical as Mickey was of that, he decided that he may as well look into it.

Unfortunately, Tron hadn't been able to find any useful files and had suggested that Ansem may have kept some books on the subject in his office. Without the no-dead scientist to help him search, though, Mickey was making near glacial progress.

So far, he had found out that the one eyed man, according to the scraps that referenced the legend, had made some kind of pact and gained a tremendous amount of power in exchange for something. Precisely what or who he made the pact with and what he lost was unknown due to the books being woefully tightlipped about the entire affair.

It was like someone hadn't wanted anyone to be able to know what happened in the legend…

Mickey slumped forward and rested his head on the desk, only to have his few seconds of rest rudely interrupted by the feeling of something falling out of his pocket. He lifted his head to see that it was the crystal Yen Sid had given him that he said could show possible futures. Mickey reached down to pick it up, but the moment his finger touched it, the crystal began to glow.

Suddenly it let out a blinding light as the mouse king felt it burn a vision into his mind…

* * *

_Aqua, in her chaser armor, lay heavily wounded in front of the memory skyscraper on The World That Never Was. Her armor seemed to be glowing with some king of purple light before the said light seemed to fade away. Sora, Kairi, and Riku were standing in front of her, though Kairi was dressed in some kind of purple colored leather armor. All three of the keyblade masters stood in battle stances, clearly tired._

_They had obviously been fighting Aqua for some reason…_

_"A-Aqua!" an all too familiar voice called out, tinged with horror. Nihlus suddenly bolted out of nowhere, whether Mickey hadn't seen him because of his control of darkness or because he had "warped" in, was unknown. "What…how…why?!" his voice was choked with emotion as he kneeled down next to Aqua._

_Behind Nihlus, Sora, Kairi, and Riku all lowered their weapons. Pained expressions marked their faces._

_"Nih…lus? Nihlus?" Aqua quietly asked. Almost instantly Nihlus began to hold her by lifting Aqua up slightly so that she while she was still on the ground, she was resting in his arms. Her helmet fell off in the process, revealing that she had some of her own blood coating her lower neck._

_"A-aqua…I…I…" Nihlus wasn't even able to finish what he was saying, his voice was simply too choked to form an intelligent sentence. Aqua lifted up her right hand and raised it up against Nihlus's face._

_"Hey, Nihlus…you're…not supposed to…cry..." she said as she weakly moved two of her fingers across Nihlus's cheek, supposedly to wipe away the tears that she mentioned. They soon became invisible as rain began to fall from the skies, a common occurrence eon the world of the nobodies. "You're…you…I…you…" Nihlus moved his own hand and held the one that Aqua had used to wipe away his tears._

_"…Aqua, no…please…I…I never…"_

_"Shhh…it's…not your fault…you…didn't know…" at this Aqua gave Nihlus a weak smile before she seemed to go limp in his arms._

_"A-aqua? AQUA!!" Nihlus screamed when he realized what had happened. He dropped her now-unmoving body and fell back; an almost dead look was in his eyes. Sora stepped forward toward Nihlus, apparently intending to comfort him, only to be stopped by Riku, who sadly shook his head._

_"How…damn it…" Nihlus mumbled to himself as he sat on all fours. "DAMN IT, DAMN IT, DAMN It, DAMNIT!!" he yelled as his sorrow turned into a blind rage. Nihlus began to strike at the concrete he sat on, cracking it and sending fragments of rocks flying. His arm had become covered in darkness, and now resembled a muscular heartless claw. "How…Sora…HOW COULD YOU?!" Nihlus roared as he abruptly got up and spun around to face Sora, Kairi, and Riku._

_His eyes, even though they were glowing brighter than a darkside heartless's in the middle of night, reflected his fury. It was without reason in who to blame for Aqua's death…_

_"Nihlus…we had to…that armor forced her to-," Riku's explanation was cut off by a furious wave of Nihlus's hand._

_"SHUT UP!!" he demanded. Nihlus's leather armor began to warp and change. It grew spikier and more metallic, yet it seemed to be more like skin, it moved far more naturally than was possible for metal armor, regardless of whether or not it was made of darkness. "Why…YOU SACRIFICED HER FOR SOME PEOPLE YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW?!"_

_"Nihlus, please clam down," Kairi begged. "If we don't stop Sulhin, then countless people are going to die!" It was no use; Nihlus was blinded by his rage and other emotions he felt coursing through him._

_"You could have saved her if you wanted to, but no! You care more about those people you don't even know, who would kill you to save their own skin in a heartbeat! You killed her for THEM!!"_

_Sora walked up to join his two friends, his voice was pain filled. "Nihlus, I know how you feel, but you can't just let innocent people die!"_

_"No you don't!" Nihlus yelled in reply. Darkness seemed to be clawing its way up his neck and onto his face. "You would be doing the same thing I'm doing if it was Kairi who died!" Sora was taken aback. Could he really deny that he would try to reap vengeance on anyone who killed Kairi? "I'm through with you!" At this, an explosion of pure darkness seemed to erupt from Nihlus while Sora and Kairi jumped back._

_"Not this again…" Riku moaned as a clawed hand emerged from the explosion. "We have to run we can't beat him here!" Sora and Kairi both nodded as they began to turn around to follow Riku as he ran away from Nihlus. Instead, all three were quickly cut off by a huge force of heartless. A loud blast was heard as Sora, Kairi and Riku spun around to see an immense ball of darkness flying towards them._

_"GO!" Riku yelled as he threw Sora and Kairi out of the ball's path, only to be caught in it himself._

_"RIKU!!" Sora and Kairi both yelled as they heard their friend scream in pain after being completely enveloped by it. The ball remained stationary after it hit Riku. His arm was seen for a brief instant, trying to break free, only to seemingly be consumed by the darkness. The orb vanished soon after, there was no sign that Riku had ever been there…_

_"R-riku!" Kairi yelled out as both she and Sora sank to their knees, devastated. Kairi suddenly yelped when she was jerked into the air by an all too familiar tentacle…_

_"KAIRI!" Sora yelled as he bolted up to try and free her, only to be knocked backwards and onto his back when a spike made of darkness burst forth form the ground, nearly impaling him in the process. Sora made a furious effort to get up; he could see what Nihlsus had turned into._

_Nihlus greatly resembled the form he had taken when he was nearly beaten to death in the keyblade graveyard, as well as the creature in Namine's drawing. Black, spiky, metal armor that seemed to be more like a skin than armor covered him from head to toe. His helmet had a large spike emerging from its forehead. In his right hand, which was clawed, he held a wicked-looking scythe with a serrated blade._

_Multiple tentacles, including the one that had grabbed Kairi, had emerged from his back. Each had thorn-like blades emerging from the length of them. Kairi shot a burst of light forth from her keybalde, but the blast was simply absorbed by Nihlus's armor. Suddenly, all the other tentacles made a b-line for Kairi, they were intent on killing her in most terrible way they could. "SORA!" she cried out as she struggled against the entangle that held her by her waist. Nothing she did seemed to be working, every time she moved the blades cut into her._

_As the tentacles speed towards Kairi, she lashed out at them with her keyblade, only to have them force it aside._

_"KAIRI!" Sora yelled as his one true love was completely covered in the blade covered tentacles. He desperately ran toward her and tried to slash the tentacles apart, only to be knocked aside by another one of the spikes. Almost immediately after Sora had been thrown aside, the tentacles that had enveloped Kairi began to stop their rapid and seemingly random movements, all except one, the one that had held Kairi, moved back toward Nihlus._

_Kairi's body was already limp, even as the tentacle slammed her into the ground before tossing her aside like she was nothing more than a rag doll. When he saw this, Sora fell to his knees._

_He had been devastated when Riku had died, but now… "K-Kairi?" he called out in disbelief as he looked at her unmoving form. At least he couldn't see any of the injuries the tentacles had inflicted upon her form here…_

_Sore stared hollowly at the ground as Nihlus, if you could call the thing that Nihlus had taken the form of Nihlus, approached him with an almost maddened look in his glowing eyes. He seemed barely able to control his rage as he lifted his scythe above his head in order to decapitate Sora and avenge Aqua…._

_Nihlus brought his scythe swinging down, only to hear a loud clan of metal as it was blocked from Sora's neck by his Keyblade. Sora's face was once as full of rage as Nihlus's would have been if it wasn't covered by his helmet. While their weapons were deadlocked, Sora's clothes and Keyblade began to change._

_As the two jumped away from each other, Sora was now wearing his final form clothing and wielding the ultima keyblade. White, gold and, blue ran down is blade from the top to bottom. Not only that, but a door to light of all places opened up behind Sora._

_If you can't take the fight to the realm of light, then you can take the realm of light to the fight…_

_"NIHLUS!" Sora yelled, as enraged as his nemesis, as the two charged each other. Their respective weapons clashed and they both disengaged, only to charge back agaist each other again._

_There was no way to tell how long their battle lasted, though it undoubtedly lasted for a formidable amount of time. To say they fought like madmen would have been an insult to the madmen! They seemed concerned only with harming the other in any way, shape, or form. The fact that both red and black blood alike began to stain their battleground despite the rain meant nothing to them. Eventually they both stood at far ends of the "arena" that was formed by the buildings and skyscraper, glaring at each other._

_Black blood was oozing from Nihlus's wounds, despite his efforts to simply absorb it back into his body, while Sora's normally white clothing was stained red with his own blood. He had no potions and had used all of his magic to try and kill Nihlus. Upon realizing this, they both simply charged toward each other one last time._

_Sora impaled Nihlus with the ultima keyblade and Nihlus impaled Sora with the blade of his scythe. They both just stood there staring hatefully into each other's eyes, before they both seemed to snap out of their bloodlust, if even for a moment._

_"You…why?" Nihlus choked out as more of his blood began to ooze out He had given up trying to regenerate his injuries, between the light and his own wounds it was impossible. They both removed their weapons from each other._

_As they fell to the ground as a result of the horrific injuries they had inflicted upon each other, the vision ended…_

Mickey abruptly jumped out of his chair at what the crystal had shown him. A million questions roared through his mind before he remembered what Master Yen Sid had warned him about the crystal.

While it could indeed show the possible future, there were literally millions of different possibilities.

In trying to prevent such terrible things form happening, he might actually cause them. Mickey sat back down on the chair; his heart was beating like a drum despite his attempts to calm down.

He would not allow his actions to be influenced by the crystal; he would rely solely upon his experience and logic. They were the only things he trusted to see him through…

* * *

"That's our hometown?!" Ven exclaimed in shock, voicing everyone's surprise at the sight of it. "When you said that there had been a few changes, I thought you meant a new building or two, not a complete renovation!" Ven's shock was quite warranted. In all his adventures, Sora had never seen a place quite like this one.

It was difficult to describe the town, but it had a medium sized wall surrounding it. The wall was made of all kinds of materials, some were metallic and fancy, while others were crude and somewhat hard on they eyes. The actual town was much the same way, it looked as though someone had gathered every kind of building material in the world and then made the town of them.

"Yes, well a lot has changed since you three disappeared." Lloyd replied simply as he led them toward what appeared to be a gate.

"Wow, this is the weirdest place I've ever seen!" Sora exclaimed as he followed Lloyd

"Really?" Kairi asked mischievously as she walked up next to Sora and slipped her hand into his.

Sora grinned in reply and nodded. "Well, I don't think you should be that surprised to see something weird…you look in the mirror everyday!" Kairi giggled and then kissed Sora on the cheek before she dashed off towards the town, leaving a stunned Sora behind. He just stood there with an almost dreamy expression on his face as he raised his hand to cover the spot where Kairi has kissed him. Suddenly, it dawned upon him just what she had said.

"HEY!!"

* * *

"So, you are all keyblade masters?" the apparent mayor of the town asked Sora, Kairi, and Riku. They were currently in his office. Lloyd had taken Nihlus, Aqua, and Ven off to another room so he could hear their story of how they got to where they were now…there was no doubt in Sora's mind that the trio would find someway to get around having to reveal Nihlus's powers and true nature. Terra, Roxas and Namine were currently taking a look about the town, they had agreed to meet up with everyone else later. As for Monica, she was standing in the same room as Riku, Sora and Kairi.

She hadn't been kidding when she said that she wasn't going to let Riku out of her sights until she could beat him in a fight!

"Well, I'd like to thank you for assisting Lloyd and Monica…without them; I don't think our town guard would last very long!"

"Um, thanks…" Sora replied as he rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. Despite the fact that he had saved numerous worlds in the course of his adventures, there were very, very few occasions where anyone stopped to actually thank him for it. It was practically a new experience for him.

"Wait, what's so special about them?" Riku asked out of curiosity. He had noticed that several other teenagers their age had shown both Monica and Lloyd a great deal of respect. Judging from the fact that they all carried weapons of some kind or another, they must have been part of the town guard that the mayor had mentioned.

"Well, Lloyd's my son for one thing," A small grin etched itself on the mayor's face. Now that he had mentioned it, the mayor did resemble Lloyd a little. He had gray hair that was much better kept than Lloyd's, and his brown eyes were nearly identical to his son's. "Despite my…objections, he more or less became the captain of the guard. When Monica…arrived she more or less became his second in command." When he received curious looks form the way he said "arrived", the mayor continued. "Ah, you haven't guessed yet? You see, Monica isn't a native of out world,"

The trio spun around to see Monica giving them a cocky salute and shooting them a look that said "What were you expecting?"

"Don't be too surprised, most of the inhabitants of this town aren't from this world either. You see, over a year ago, these strange portals began to open and these creatures came through them, I believe they're known as heartless? Anyway, shortly after they began to attack our town, people began to appear through the portals as well. They told stories of the heartless some how devoured their home worlds."

Sora, Kairi, and Riku all nodded when they heard this, it made since. So this world was much like Traverse Town in the fact that people who lost their worlds to the heartless wound up on it if they feel through dark doors. "You…didn't know that, did you? Odd, both Nihlus and Aqua arrived here through those doors…"

"What?!" Riku blurted out in surprise.

"Hm, well, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that they didn't tell you, they were only little children when they arrived here. You see, Ven's parents more or less adopted them, but they never really got close to anyone, except Ven and his uncle…" The keyblade master trio nodded their heads in reply. "Out of the three, Nihlus was always the strangest…he barely even talked to anyone other than them, even after Aqua tried to get him to be more outgoing…"

They were suddenly interrupted when they heard footsteps outside the door to the office. "Hey, guys, this guy said he needs out help!" Roxas declared as he entered the room with Namine, Terra, and a young man from the town.

"Um, yes, I'm the director for our annual play, and two of the actors got sick from a disease that's been going around town for quite some time now. I was wondering if you would be willing to take their place?" the director's voice was full of nervousness; his request was directed at Sora and Kairi.

"Um, sure, but what's the play about?" Sora asked as he saw Nihlus walk in behind the director; apparently he had finished talking with Lloyd. It's not like it could be about anything that would embarrass Sora and Kairi…right?

* * *

"Roxas, how could you?!" Sora moaned as he looked through the script of the play while his nobody chuckled at his reaction to finding out that the play was actually divided into several parts that were played out over the course of several nights…and tonight happened to be the epic closing to it, involving a rather romantic scene between his and Kairi's characters…

"Well, me and Namine couldn't do it, we already bought front row tickets with the money we won off Riku, and you two we the bets people for the job I could think of!"

"But Roxas…" Sora continued to moan as he read through the stuff he was supposed to say and do.

"Look, you and Kairi are together, right?" Sora nodded in reply. "Then why should showing affection towards each other in a play be difficult? You two do it all the time in real life!" Sora sighed irritably as he sat the script he'd been trying to memorize down.

"Yes, we together, but this is different! We can't do that kind of stuff in public!" (A/N: Seriously, how many fics have them literally making out in public? And I do mean making out…tongue stuff!)

Roxas shrugged in reply. "Well, you and Kairi already agreed to help, so I suggest that you start suiting up like she is!" Roxas was about to walk out of the room that he and Sora were waiting in when they both heard footsteps coming from outside. In walked Nihlus, at first glance he seemed to be dressed in a suit of black metal armor, but then Sora saw that it was just a replica. He was dressed in the costume of the villain of the play!

"Huh, Nihlus wha-?" Sora received a scolw in reply; it was obvious that Nihlus wasn't very happy.

"Apparently the guy who was supposed to play as this character got sick when he was checking up on the other two," Sora shot Nihlus a puzzled look. He didn't understand why Nihlus was in such a fowl mood. "Naturally, I got chosen by that director to be the evil villain bent on spreading death and decay because I 'am naturally perfect for the part!'"

Now Sora could understand, given his powers and experiences, Nihlus must have been more sensitive than most people were to being called a villain. He had done some pretty questionable things so far…

"…Don't look at me like that!" Nihlus began to put on the helmet that went with the armor. It was black and had horns emerging from it. He then spun around in time to see Roxas making a timely exit. Behind him, he could hear Sora getting ready. His only consolation in the whole affair was the fight scene; it would give him a chance to take out his anger on someone…

* * *

"Hi," Roxas whispered to Namine as he took his seat next to her. The play was actually taking place on a stage in the middle of town, the seats were all outdoors. There were massive curtains that had been hung in order to hide the behind the scenes work.

"Hi," Namine replied, grinning, as Roxas sat next to her. The couple held hands as they waited for the play to start. A row or two behind them, Terra sat in his own chair. He crossed his arms and allowed a faint grin to materialize on his face at the thought of what Mickey's reaction to him just kicking back for once would be! That mouse was a workaholic!

The chaser chuckled to himself as the play began, he couldn't wait to see how Sora would look on stage…

The narrator moved onstage with a microphone in his hand. "During our last play, we witnessed the destruction of the Dark Lord's army by King Orious's own knights of the blazing sun. Now, the knight-general Magnus must face his greatest challenge before he can rescue the maiden of light from the dread shadow-knight…" The narrator bowed and then moved offstage as the actual play began.

The curtains parted, revealing Sora, Kairi, and Nihlus all in their costumes. Kairi, who was dressed in a pink dress much like the one she had worn to the dance on Radiant Garden only it was not as ornate, seemed to be held in some sort of stasis in a globe of darkness. The globe itself was clearly just an imitation; it was obvious to everyone in the audience. Kairi too was merely acting as if she were asleep, and quite well too. She must have been taking lessons from Sora…he knew everything there was to know about be a lazy bum!

"Suren!" Sora called out as he drew a broadsword from the scabbard that was included in his costume, a suit of white, metal armor, that was as fake as Nihlus's, without a helmet. "Let her go and surrender, it's not too late to repent for all you've done!"

Nihlus shook his head as he drew his own black sword in response. "No, you fool…" his voice was surprisingly full of barely suppressed emotion. "Do you honestly think there's such a thing as redemption?" Terra, Roxas, and Namine all heard several people near them whisper to each other about "an interesting twist"

A "huh?" escaped Sora's lips as Nihlus said his bit about redemption; Kairi too seemed to stir uncomfortably within the fake prison. "Tell me, do you really think all those people I hurt will truly forgive me? No, they'll claim that they will, but in their hearts they'll want vengeance…" The audience once again began to whisper to one another as Nihlus's eyes began to glow through his helmet. They believed it to be some form of special effects. "They'll justify it by claiming that I'll have to be punished for all those lives I took…either death or imprisonment await me if I simply give up…no, redemption is as much a fantasy as this entire story!"

"What?" Sora asked as he took a step back from Nihlus. He wasn't acting normal, even for him…

"Shut up…just fight me…show that you're the hero everyone loves and that I'm the villain to be despised!" Nihlus abruptly charged Sora with his blade. Sparks flew as their weapons met with a thunderous clang when Sora blocked the strike. They both began a rapid exchange of blows, sparks flying off the magically blunted blades, as they dueled all across the stage. A few members of the audience clapped at their display calling it the greatest fight scene ever choreographed on the grounds that it looked like they were really fighting!

Nihlius's eyes seemed to glow brighter and brighter as his attacks began to increase in ferocity and raw strength. After a flurry of blows, they both jumped back, only for Nihlus to surge forward and strike at Sora so hard that it knocked him backwards and forced him onto his knees. Nihlsu made a charge for Sora, seemingly to impale him on his sword, only for Kairi to suddenly yell "Sora!" and summon her keyblade.

Kairi slashed out of the globe around the time Sora rolled out of Nihlus's way, causing him to embed his sword into the wood. Kairi slashed at Nihlus, only to have him suddenly make use of his powers…in front of the entire population of his hometown. He formed a shield, blocking Kairi's keyblade and then shoving her away, only to have Sora stab him in the side with The Kingdom Key before the blade he was forming on his other arm could be put to use.

Abruptly, the curtains closed on the scene as a few members of the front row were spattered with black blood. Lloyd rushed urgently onto the stage. "And so Suren was defeated, and Magnus and his lady were married and lived happily ever after!" his voice was rushed as he hurried behind the curtains to see what the hell was going on.

* * *

Nihlus held his hand in disbelief as he slumped against the wall near the town's main gate. He had shredded the costume and was now sitting in his normal leather armor. Before, no one had questioned him about the heartless symbol on his chest, they had only ever encountered "pureblood" heartless and lost ones, neither of which bore the said symbol. After his display though…

Nihlus truly didn't understand what happened. He had simply voiced some of his opinions and then…lost it…he couldn't stop…

"Nihlus!" his head jerked up to see, of all people, Lloyd running up to him. "What was that? You didn't tell me everything, did you?" Nihlus hung his head with guilt as he got up.

"Lloyd, I-," he was suddenly interrupted by the silver headed militia captain shoving him out of the way, and shouting some kind of exclamation. The gate was shattered into splinters as one of the lost ones burst through it; its golden eyes were fixed upon Lloyd's chest. Before Nihlus could even get up or react, Lloyd gasped when the rogue heartless dug one of its large claws into his chest and roughly pulled out his heart.

"Lloyd!" Nihlus yelled as tentacles emerged from his back and impaled the heartless multiple times, it was Shadow's doing as Nihlus was too surprised to do anything right now.

"Captain, we haven't seen-," Nihlus looked up form Lloyd's fading and unresponsive body as a teenager, around fifteen years old, dressed in an orange shirt and brown pants, suddenly appeared on the scene, holding what appeared to be a sniper rifle. "CAPTAIN! You…you did this!" he accused, not waiting for Nihlus to respond. To him, it was the only possibility, the heartless was already dead and gone (literally) and Nihlus had several tendrils of darkness growing out of his back.

"Wait, no, I-!" Nihlus was cut off when the rifle was fired; he felt something touch his shoulder, but nothing else.

_'Nihlus, we have t get out of here! I can't absorb many more of those!'_ As much as he hated to admit it, Nihlus knew Shadow was correct. He dashed through the remains of the gate while the teen that had tried to shot him started yelling for other members of the town guard to help him hunt down Nihlus.

He couldn't use a dark door, there was a chance that more of the lost ones would be able to get into it and spread to other worlds. Knowing this, Nihlus began to run in the direction of the gummi ship, it would be awhile before a pursuit force could be formed…

* * *

_'Okay, this is it, you can explain to Sora why you had to take the gummi ship through that link you have with him,'_ Nihlus nodded in response to Shadow's advice. He was about to enter the ship when he suddenly heard a very familiar voice call him.

"Nihlus, wait!" he spun around to see Aqua sprinting like a bat out of hell towards him. "What happened back there? It's total pandemonium!" Nihlus simply didn't know how to answer her question as she stood in front of him, wanting answer.

"Aqua…I…you have to get out of here, they're coming for me and I can't have you in danger because of my own mistakes!" he tried to turn around and enter the ship, only to have Aqua roughly grab him by the shoulder and spin him back around so that he was facing her again.

"Nihlus, I saw the play…" the champion of darkness gulped at this, for once, he truly didn't have the faintest idea what Aqua was going to do next. "Remember what I said when we made the truce with Sora? You know, when I said that I wasn't going to leave you, no matter how much darkness you pumped into your system?" Nihlus nodded in response. Aqua took a deep breathe before she continued. "I'm coming with you."

"W-what?!"

"You heard me!" Aqua asserted as she crossed her arms. "I promised to stick with you 'till the end…and I'm not going to break that promise because I…I..." she abruptly stopped as she took a clumsy step towards Nihlus and grabbed onto him in what seemed to be an embrace. He stiffened in surprise, but slowly and awkwardly wrapped his arms around her back…and felt something wet.

Wait, wet?! He removed one of his hands to see that it was red, covered in Aqua's blood. Nihlsu gasped in horror as he realized why she was holding onto him so tightly, Aqua's eyes almost seemed dead, she could barely stand! "A-aqua!" he yelled as he allowed her to sink to the ground. he placed her on her stomach to see how bad her injury was when he heard two voices arguing.

"Ashton, what are you doing?! You just shot Aqua, she was innocent!" He looked up to see the teen with the sniper rifle being yelled at by another, older teenager. It was obvious that Aqua' injury had been accidental, Ashton had been aiming for him…

"Aqua, hang on!" Nihlus shouted as he picked her up, bridal style. "Shadow!"

"I'm on it, buddy!" the being of darkness emerged from his host's body and stayed behind while Nihlus moved Aqua to a safer location so that he could heal her. "Hey, why don't you assholes try and fill me full of lead? I'll give five munny to anyone who gets a headshot!"

Nihlus hurried onto the ship, nearly tripping over what appeared to be the armor that he had given Aqua in the first ruin. He didn't bother to question how on earth it got there, it was probably just a prank of Ven's, and he had someone far more important to take care of. Nihlus carefully removed Aqua's jacket and laid her down on the ground on her stomach, of course. "Come on…come one…" he muttered to himself as he place his hand on Aqua's bloodstained tank top. Darkness began to cover the area where she had been shot; he could feel it healing her wound!

In a few seconds the bullet popped right out, and the darkness retracted into Nihlus's palm. He felt relief as Aqua's expression turned peaceful, though her eyes were still shut. He moved her into a more comfortable position on her back and then turned towards the ship's exit…a glare that could kill was etched upon his features.

Shadow reentered Nihlus as he stepped down the loading ramp, his shape shifting abilities meant he was utterly unaffected by all the bullets that he had absorbed. '_Wait, Nihlus, aren't we supposed to be getting out of here about now?'_

_'No…,'_ Nihlus sensed Shadow tingle with what felt like fear once he realized what his host had in mind.

'_What?! Nihlus, no! You can't kill them, that's blatant power abu-, URGH!_' Shadow suddenly began to make choking sounds as Nihlus felt himself shake with rage.

"I swear, I am going to kill you with my bare hands!" he yelled as heartless claws began to grow. He didn't even notice Shadow gagging until the being of Darkness's presence seemed to change…it felt like Shadow, but at the same time, it wasn't Shadow anymore.

_'Shhh, sssleep now, little brother, my time hasss come!'_ the voice was that of the presence that of the presence that had saved him from Davy Jones's crew back on Port Royal. _'What's this? They hurt Aqua, and you want vengeance? Perfect!'_ Suddenly, Nihlus felt himself being filled with dark power in its purest form. It felt good, and yet he still retained his rage despite the fact that he felt like he was currently on a sugar rush. He could feel his armor changing, growing spikier and more like skin…not to mention what felt like a bladed tail emerging from behind him.

_'Can you feel it? Your rage makes usss invincible!'_ Nihlus nodded eagerly as a borderline psychotic smile spread across his lips. An almost crazed laugh erupted form his lips as he began to summon the single cruelest weapon he could think of at the moment, a cross between a chainsaw and a claymore. _'I believe it isss customary for humans to be given giftsss and partiesss when they return home after an extended periods of absence…I've given you my gift, now look at the party before you!'_ The presence that had replaced Shadow laughed gleefully as Nihlus began charging down toward the terrified pursuit force.

If he had been in his right mind, he would have stopped to question just what happened to Shadow and what the thing in his mind that was giving him more power than the former had ever been able to muster before was, but he wasn't in his right mind…all he cared about was power and avenging Aqua's wounding and near death…

_'HAHAHAHA, welcome home, Nihlus…'_

* * *

Okay, that was one heck of a cliffhanger, huh? Anyway, I was going to include some of that emotional trauma, but I kinda got lazy and decided that this chapter was long enough as it is right now. Well, in the next chapter things REALLY start to go haywire…try not to hate Nihlus too much, despite him being an OC and all. (In my opinion people rarely feel sorry for the OCs, especially when they harm the canon cast, and only ever don't want anything bad to happen to them when they're being paired with one of the canon cast...and that's just so the bloody character will have a love interest and not go into deprssion over losing someone so close to them!)

The presence that took over Shadow's job is way more powerful than he ever was…and then there's the fact that Nihlus's emotional state is going to be more wrecked than the car I'm going use for driving lessons when I start taking them! It's going to be reallytough to beat Nihlus...prepare for one heck of a battle in the next chapter!

R&R please!


	22. Chapter 21: The Army of Darkness

Notes: Alright, this chapter is arguably the single most important one in overall storytelling; I just hope it will live up to your expectations. A little advice, things are going to get rather intense, so you had best brace yourselves…

Me: Okay, I'm not letting any of the characters in here with me, because if I did they would kill me for the stuff I'm planning….yes, it's that bad! Anyway, I don't own anything except my own ideas…

* * *

Riku grunted as he, Sora, Kairi, Roxas, Namine, Terra, and Monica ran toward what sounded like some kind of battle. In short, the town had pretty much gone to Hell about now. They hadn't been able to find Ven and several of the "lost ones", as Shadow called the heartless that had some light in them, had tried to attack the town. Judging by the swiftness of the town guard's response, the raid was not an entirely unusual occurrence.

What got them all suspicious of the fact that something involving Nihlus had gone terribly wrong, was the fact that shortly after the rogue heartless had been defeated, Sora was nearly crippled by an overwhelming surge of pure rage from Nihlus via their mental link. Before Sora had managed to stop the influx of emotion, he could somehow feel that Nihlus's mind had disintegrated to an almost feral state, which was why the dark champion hadn't been keeping his and Sora's link sealed.

The sound of gunfire, yells, and magic being flung against some terrible foe did little to comfort the group. Just as they were getting within sight of the gummi ship, a teenager in an orange parka that covered all of his features except his eyes landed in front of them with a small crunch.

"Oh my God, he killed Kenny!"

"That bastard!" Two voices yelled out, followed by a flurry of gunfire and a feral roar. The teenager, named Kenny, moaned and then sat up as he tried to recover from whatever had sent him flying.

"Kenny, what the hell is going on here?!" Monica demanded as she forced the teen, or at least he looked to be about thirteen, to his feet, completely ignoring the large wound on his stomach. The way his parka was torn suggested that he had just barely avoided being mauled to death by something…

Riku rolled his eyes as he simply walked up toward the sounds of the battle in order to find out what was going on in a much quicker fashion, Kenny was speaking incomprehensibly!

"…Oh my God…" Riku muttered to himself in disbelief as he climbed over the small hill that obscured his view of the battle. Below him was, what he assumed to be, Nihlus in the middle of some kind of rampage. The champion of darkness was in a metallic suit of spiky black armor that seemed to hug his skin to the point where it actually took Riku a few seconds to realize that it was armor and not actually another one of Nihlus's "changes". A tail with a blade at its tip sliced diagonally up the chest of the closest opponent while the poor soul's fellows fired yet another barrage of bullets and magic at Nihlus in a desperate attempt to stop him. Every single bullet was simply absorbed into the armor while the spells were simply too weak to have any real affect on Nihlus, who was now rapidly switching between targets with his claws.

It looked like he was toying with them, trying to make the one-way slaughter fest last as long as possible.

"Riku wha-?" Kairi let out a gasp when she saw the sight below, Nihlus had just finished impaling yet another one of the town guards on his claws. Sora, Riku, Kairi, Roxas, and Namine stood and watched in horror for a few seconds. They had all seen their share of heartless attacks, but this was different, the brutality and ferocity of the slaughter was unparalleled.

"THAT SON OF A BITCH!!" Monica roared from behind them after Kenny finished his explanation of what happened. "Ashton knows his aim sucks when he's mad, why the hell did he fire?!" Monica ran up in front of Sora and co. as she reached into one of her many pockets to pull out what looked like a grenade.

"Son of a bitch!" she swore violently as she recklessly threw the grenade down towards Nihlus, her fellow guards weren't in range due to Nihlus tossing them about like rag dolls. Nihlus let out a surprised yelp, which soon turn into a growl of anger, when he was suddenly electrocuted by Monica's grenade.

It was far more powerful than the other weapons that had been brought against him…minus the keyblades of course. Againd, Nihlus was pelted by the same feeling of pain as Manica fired her energy rifle at him as she ran down the hill, pursued by both Roxas and Riku, who were trying to stop her from trying to go toe to toe with Nihlus.

Whether her anger was directed at Nihlus for "killing" Lloyd or at Ashton for trying to shoot Nihlus and causing him to get like this was unknown, but either way, Monica was hell-bent on trying to kill the champion of darkness.

"Gotcha'!" Riku exclaimed as he grabbed Monica by the wrist and threw her back towards the hill, only to be tackle by Roxas and sent flying forward. Nihlus came crashing down upon the spot where Riku had been standing only a few seconds ago. If he had remained there for even one second more, Nihlus would either have broken every bone in his body, or impaled Riku with his tail, which was now embedded in the ground.

Both Roxas and Riku quickly got up off the ground and spun around with their keyblades at the ready while Nihlus tore his tail out of the ground and stared at them with an expression that would have made anyone who hadn't already seen just about every kind of heartless there was soil themselves.

It was the kind of look a sociopath gave to his most recent victim before he slit their throat with a knife.

A weapon that looked like a cross between a claymore and a chainsaw materialized into Nihlus's hands as he snarled at the two keyblade wielders who had dared to interrupt him while he was trying to remember which one other militia members had actually shot Aqua in the first place…he was currently have trouble between whether to kill that one with the chainsaw, or "eat" him…

A small grin tugged at Riku's lips as Nihlus suddenly realized the critical tactical error that he had made: he hadn't been paying attention to his surroundings. While he had been psyching himself to battle against Riku and Roxas, who were still within his limits to defeat as he currently was, Kairi, Sora, Namine, Terra, and Monica, who had regained her senses, had surrounded him.

"Nihlus…give up…" Namine demanded as she readied a blast of light to shoot Nihlus with in case he turned out to be too worked to simply calm down. Even as feral as he was, Nihlus realized that he was beaten. He seemed about to lower his claymore/chainsaw when suddenly his eyes widened and he turned his head to the side.

In his view was Ashton, the one who had nearly killed Aqua in the first place. Apparently a certain entity that inhabited Nihlus's body knew how to inspire him to nearly boundless lengths….

The champion of Darkness surged forward, brushing aside both Roxas and Namine as the two nobodies stabbed and shot him with light respectively. Their attacks elicited a howl of pain from Nihlus, but nothing more. His injuries simply regenerated and any blood that came out of his body was simply reabsorbed in after less than half a second. All watched in horror as they ran in a desperate attempt to block Nihlus from Ashton, who raised his sniper rifle in a desperate attempt motivated by fear to block the terrifying weapon that Nihlus intended to execute him with.

Their efforts were futile; Nihlus's rage had enhanced every aspect of his powers, from his speed to the rate at which he could regenerate. What resembled a satisfied grin crept upon Nihlus's face as he dashed within striking range of Ashton and raised his claymore over his head.

And then, Aqua, dressed in her chaser armor minus the helmet, suddenly sprinted between the two with her arms outstretched. Nihlus's rage suddenly gave way to an overwhelming wave of panic; he was already in mid-swing when Aqua stepped in! He tried to stop the blow, but the weight of the weapon forced him to continue his attack.

Suddenly, a shield of light materialized in front of Aqua, where the claymore would have hit, and deflected the claymore and sending Nihlus flying backwards.

Kairi gasped and fell to her knees because of the strain of making a shield of light so quickly. She was still not used to using her abilities as a princess of heart, and even if she was, Nihlus's attack was still incredibly difficult to deflect.

"Kairi!" Sora cried out as he helped her to her feet. "Are you all right?!" Kairi nodded and put on a weak smile for Sora's sake. She was really quite tired, but the idea of making Sora worry over nothing was unbearable! Sora sighed in relief and, to Kairi's great surprise, enveloped her in a tight hug.

Their tender moment was interrupted by Riku coughing pointedly and then pointing at Nihlus, who seemed to be sitting on the ground in disbelief, with his thumb. The couple blushed and pulled away from each other, embarrassed that they could get so wrapped up in each other that they would forget something as important as the now relatively calm Nihlus.

"What…happened?" Nihlus asked no one in particular as he held his head in his hands.

"You want to know what happened?!" Monica yelled back, barely able to contain her fury. "You killed Lloyd and you just tried to kill everyone within a five mile radius!"

"I…I did what?" Nihlus was clearly in disbelief as he head jerked up so that he could face the group. He let out a choked sound as looked at the carnage around him; the full implications of his actions began to set in.

"Hm, unusual request, Nihlusss," a certain hissy voice said, emanating from the raven-haired wielder of darkness. "The ssspecial place on this world, uh?" A dark door opened up directly behind Nihlus, who was suddenly dragged into it by a pair of tentacles that literally erupted from his back.

"Nihlus!" Aqua yelled out as she ran straight into the portal, immediately behind her friend. Roxas and Namine exchanged panicked looks before they nodded to each other before they suddenly sprinted into the portal right behind her; they weren't just going to leave Aqua with a possibly homicidal Nihlus!

"Wait, don't!" Terra yelled as he reached out to grab both Roxas and Namine, only to have both nobodies jump through the door before anyone could do anything. Terra scowled with worry and muttered to himself about how he was going to regret it as he too jumped into the dark door right before it closed, leaving Monica, Riku, Sora, Kairi, and the heavily wounded members of the town guard just standing there in shock.

"He's going to the ruin…" a familiar voice called out from behind the group. They all spun around to see Ven at the head of a group of magicians from the town, with his keyblade summoned. "Come one, these guys'll take care of the wounded, we need to get Nihlsu back."

The all nodded in reply, before Sora opened his mouth to ask a question that had been plaguing him ever since they had chased Nihlus up to this point. "Wait, Ven where have you been…and why are you acting so…serious?" Now that he had mentioned it, Sora actually realized that Ven did look somewhat red in the face.

The kind of red you get when you've either been running at top speed for about a mile or when you've been upset about something major for the past few hours…

Ven seemed taken aback at Sora's question, the fact that Kairi, Riku, and Monica all stared at his face in silent agreement didn't help much either. "I…looked up a girl's skirt and she bitch slapped me…a lot!" Ven tried to put on a smile in a pathetic attempt to put everyone at ease. Even Sora, who had actually thought Mulan was a guy before Goofy pointed out that she was a woman, wasn't taken in by Ven's act…

"Look, we have more important things to worry about, okay? Let's just go!" Ven was clearly trying to hide something…they would just have to get an explanation out of him after all this was sorted out…

* * *

Aqua let out a low moan as she tried to force herself off the stone floor that she lay upon. She could dimly remember following Nihlus into the dark door, before being followed in turn by Roxas, Namine, and Terra. Everything had gone black about nidway into the bloody thing…Aqua had no way of knowing just how long she had been laying on the floor like that. As she slowly raised herself onto her feet, Aqua looked about to take in her surroundings. She was in a circular room; everything in it was made of stone and dusty. Suddenly, it clicked in her head where she was, there were only so many places that had a metal engraving of a gigantic horned creature adorning the walls!

This was "the special place" as Nihlus called it. More specifically, it was the ruin that they had come back home to visit in the first place. "Hey, Roxas, Terra, Namine, Nihlus, are you there?" Aqua called out as she cupped her hands around her mouth to make them function like a crude megaphone. She paused and stood in silence to wait and see if she would get a reply.

Nearly a minute passed before she heard scrapping noises, and not a minute too soon. Aqua was about to just wonder blindly off into the ruins, although she, Nihlus, and Ven had frequently used them to just hang out in, they had never really gotten this deep into them. Exploring this ruin was just one of those things they were planning on doing, but never really got around to. Aqua summoned her keyblade, making a mental note that she really would have to come up with a name for it later, and began to walk down the corridor that the noise was coming from. As she walked, Aqua couldn't help but compare this ruin to the other one's that Terra had taken her to.

Whereas those seemed ancient and mystical, this one seemed a bit more…advanced, somehow. It was clearly a different kind of ruin than those…precisely what made it different, however, escaped Aqua. She was never good at that sort of archeology kind of thing anyway!

Aqua stopped abruptly, she hear two startled cries and then…nothing. "Roxas, Namine!" She called out, only to be met with more silence. Aqua began to sprint as fast as she could down the corridor and emerged in another room, which seemed unnaturally dark. She literally couldn't see more than five feet in front of her. "Hey, is anybody in here?" Aqua could feel her heart racing.

She KNEW those were Roxas and Namine's voices that cried out and she KNEW that they came form this room…which meant whatever they had encounter, and were possibly ambushed by, was probably in here with her. When Aqua thought she heard a footstep that sounded more like a click, she spun around and launched a fireball from the tip of her keyblade, briefly illuminating the part of the room where it hit. It only served to confirm her idea that the darkness in the room was unnatural, the fireball had barely lit the place up, and when it did, it seemed to vanish into the inky blackness instantly.

Still, she had seen a brief flicker of movement where the fireball had exploded. "I know you're there…Nihlus…" Suddenly a pair of brightly glowing yellow eyes appeared about two meters away from her, they had previously been concealed by the impenetrable darkness. "Nihlus, what's going on? I can't see anything, and what did you do to Roxas and Namine?!" Aqua heard something that sounded like a sigh emanate from Nihlus.

"Aqua, I've undergone some…changes…but Roxas and Namien are fine…try not to be startled by my appearance, promise?"

"Uh, yeah…" Aqua replied nervously. This wasn't like Nihlus at all! He hadn't been truly nervous around anyone, especially her, ever since she had gotten him out of the "really nervous and not confident kid" faze of his life when they were both like six years old or something! Whatever had gotten him like this, Nihlus must have considered it to be really, really bad….and seeing as he was the one who regularly got her and Ven out of trouble whenever a prank went wrong or a lost temper resulted in someone that wasn't a blue haired girl getting a bloody nose his standards for "bad" were quite a bit higher than a normal person's.

"…Okay…" and with that, the unnatural darkness that Nihlus had been using to move around undetected instantly vanished, prompting Aqua to gasp at the sight before her. Nihlus was clad in the same spiky black armor that he had been in when he was going berserk, but this time it seemed more streamlined, efficient, and much more like skin. His face was concealed by a black helmet that had a single, large horn protruding from the top of its forehead, and the bladed tail that Nihlus had apparently grown as well, was wrapped around his wait like a belt, with the blade having retracted somehow.

The focus of Aqua's attention quickly shifted to the wall behind Nihlus. Roxas and Namine were unconscious and suspended onto the wall, side by side, by manacles that were locked around their ankles and wrists. The manacles were, unsurprisingly, made out of darkness. For all intents and purposes, Nihlus shouldn't have been able to do that. Sure, he had clearly snuck up on the two nobodies, giving neither of them a chance to fight, but the fact was, that every time he had used his powers in the past whatever he had made always had constant physical contact with him.

He had used tentacles swords, spears, scythes, claws, and just about every other weapon known to man that wasn't a ranged one. Before it had been somewhat apparent that he couldn't remotely control, or even maintain, anything he made from darkness. Somehow, his powers had been enhanced to surpass that limit…

"Nihlus, why?" Aqua asked, shocked at his actions and overall demeanor. This wasn't the way that Nihlus acted…or at least not HER Nihlus… "Let me see your face…" Aqua crossed her arms stubbornly. She knew Nihlus, he Ven and her had been together pretty much all their lives, so it was a near natural thing for her to realize that he had made the helmet to conceal his face. It was something he didn't want her to see…

"Aqua, I don't…please, don't make me…" Nihlus nervously took a step back. It was ironic, for all his power, he was scared of Aqua seeing the real "changes" that had occurred while she, Terra, Roxas, and Namine were still recovering from their little trip through the dark door…

"If you don't take it off, then I'll cut it off!" Aqua readied her keyblade to prove her point. Her words may have sounded tough, but they were really just a mask to hide how she felt about now. Nihlus seemed conflicted before he head lowered slightly, and the helmet began to retract into his armor. Aqua gasped and dropped her keyblade in surprise, causing it to vanish. With the helmet down, she could see why Nihlus was so reluctant to let her see his face.

The darkness seemed to be clawing its way up it. There was no real pattern, on his neck it looked like tiger strips going upwards and his face was streaked intermediately with it. The darkness was like some kind of living tattoo, almost. Nihlus's eyes were very much the same. They seemed both natural and artificial at the same time. They were still gold, but whatever invisible quality it was that made human eyes look, well, human, was nearly gone. The gold of his pupils was stained with a hint of black.

Nihlus's appearance wasn't really horrific, it was just…unnatural. It was inhuman…

"Nihlus…what happened?" Aqua took a step towards him and was inwardly relived when he didn't try to run away or anything along those lines.

"It's…complicated…" the tone of Nihlus's reply was somewhat hurt and reluctant. He didn't want to talk about whatever had changed. "I just…I blew it…" suddenly Nihlus's arm jerked toward Aqua, seemingly of its own accord. There was no time for either Nihlus or Aqua to react as Nihlus's clawed hand penetrated the chaser armor.

Aqua felt her head jerk; she was struggling to maintain consciousness. Then, just as she was about to fade away, she heard voices, one of them belonging to Nihlus…

'_Sulhin, what are you doing?!'_ Nihlus's voice was panicked. Somehow, Aqua could feel that he was terrified of…losing her…again…

'_Trussst me….'_ There was something about the second vice, the one Nihlus called "Sulhin", that sent shivers down Aqua's spin, and not the good kind of shivers. _'Ah, I thought so…Nihlusss, reach out, can you feel what'sss in her armor?'_ Aqua could feel Nihlus's fear turn into relief and then curiosity.

_'Huh, wait, is this-?'_

_'Yesss…allow me to tear it out. It ssshall render her unconsciousss, but…'_ Aqua could somehow feel Nihlus give the mental equivalent of a nod before everything seemed to get cold and the sensation of falling permeated her entire body.

_'Ease your guilt…if you had not torn it out, who knowsss what may have happened?'_ Aqua felt her consciousness fading as she lay on the floor. She could see Nihlus standing over her with what appeared to be a crystallized heart. It seemed artificial, somehow. Nihlus stared at it for one second, before he abruptly crushed it into a dozen fragments with the hand that held it. Right before her entire view went black, Aqua heard a familiar voice, Sora's, and then saw Nihlus turn towards the direction from where it had originated…with his trademark scythe at the ready.

Did Nihlus intend to kill Sora? Regardless, Aqua's part in this one scene among many was through…she would not be able to intervene in this clash like she had done before…

* * *

Sora huffed as he ran through the corridors of the ruin, followed by Kairi, Monica and Riku. As soon as he had guided them to the ruin, they had voted, and decided, that Ven should bring back up. He was chosen because he was easily the fastest runner out of all of them. "Hey, I think I saw something up ahead!" Sora hollered over his shoulder as he ran to what seemed to be an abnormally dark rectangular room.

"Ugh, I can't see a thing!" Monica complained as she aimed down the barrel of her rifle. If she couldn't see, then she couldn't shoot, and if she couldn't shoot then she couldn't fight, and Monica not being able to fight would be like Peter Pan without the ability to fly!

"Stop whining!" Riku shot back, inwardly enjoying the fact that he had an excuse to needle Monica.

"Hey, I don't take orders from emo boys! So shut up!" Sora and Kairi both rolled their eyes at Riku and Monica's exchange. It was like listening to an old married couple…only worse since the two of them would happily go head to head in a fight.

"Kairi, can you do something to make it brighter in here?" Kairi raised her hand to her chin as she contemplated Sora's question. Namine was the one who could use light in an offensive manner, while Kairi was restricted to using it only in a defensive manner. Precisely why that was so was unknown to all.

"Well, I can t-," Kairi was suddenly cut off when Monica abruptly let out a startled cry, followed by a yelp from Riku. "Huh, what?!" The sound Monica's rifle firing rang out, before, in a flahs of silver, the high tech rifle was suddenly embedded in the wall right next to Sora's head. Someone had ripped it out of Monica's grasp and thrown it like a spear.

"Hey put me down you stinken'…!" Monica grunted as she struggled against her assailant in the dark.

"Kairi, now!" Sora cried out as he and Riku summoned their keyblades. Kairi nodded as she summoned her own and pointed to towards the ceiling. She concentrated for a few seconds and willed the light in her heart to come forth. A small globe of light shot forth from her keyblade and hovered on the ceiling, illuminating the whole room.

The keyblade master trio gasped when they saw what held Monica. "N-nihlus?" Sora asked in an uneven voice. The champion of darkness held Monica by the throat as she kicked and struggled relentlessly in an attempt to get free.

"I'm a little busy about now…be with you in a second…" Nihlus's tone was cold and full of suppressed emotion. There was not a doubt in Sora's mind that he really meant business this time around. Suddenly, Monica let out a chocked gargle as darkness spread form Nihlus's hand to Monica, slowly covering her.

"Hey, put her down!" Riku yelled as he charged toward Nihlus with the Way to Dawn ready to hack Nihlus to pieces. He may not have liked Monica much, but she did have a certain…something that endeared her slightly to him. If anyone was going to beat the crap out of her, it was him…that was HIS job. Monica suddenly went limp and stopped her previously relentless attempts to get free. Whatever Nihlus was doing to her, it wasn't meant to be very pleasant at all…

Riku let out a battle yell as he rapidly approached Nihlus, dimly aware that both Sora and Kairi were running up behind him. The champion of Darkness raised his free hand to perform some kind of attack/counter attack on Riku, only to suddenly gasp and recoil as if he had been stuck, causing Riku to run right past him due to the momentum of his own blow. Nihlus dropped Monica, causing the darkness that covered her to recede and was then sent knocked over towards one of the walls of the room by Riku spinning around a slashing at him with his keyblade.

"Is she alright?" Sora asked as the three temporarily forgot about Nihlus when they saw the condition that Monica was in. She had curled herself up into a ball and was literally shaking. Whatever Nihlus had been doing before he had been interrupted by some kind of complication and Riku's blow, it clearly must have been truly one of the most terrifying things that could happen to a person.

To reduce Monica to her current state, it would take something truly traumatizing…

"No she's not alright!" Riku snapped, for once annoyed with Sora's inability to grasp the obvious. As cute and endearing as it was, mainly to Kairi, He had no patience for it right now. Riku couldn't help but feel a measure of…concern for her well-being. It must have been because they were on the same side and were thus technically comrades or because he had yet to prove to her that he was truly better at fighting!

"God…that was…terrible!" Nihlus exclaimed form behind the keyblade masters as he held his head with his right hand. "I'm never going to use someone's own fear against them again…at least, not in their own minds…"

"Why you!" Sora growled, for once feeling a sincere loathing for Nihlus. How could he be so casual about doing that to Monica?! Nihlus's head jerked up quickly, in an almost hopeful manner.

"Mind your surroundings…look up…" Sora, Kairi and Riku were just about to ignore the now-hostile Nihlus's advice when they happened to see a shadow getting larger directly in front of them. The trio scattered just in time to avoid a shadow copy of Nihlus in his currently armored form from coming down and crushing all three of them.

"What the-, Shadow?!" Kairi gasped out as the copy dusted itself off.

"No…Sssulhin, at your ssservice, princessss!" The copy gave a short bow in mocking courtesy before it turn and picked Monica up by the throat again. "Fascinating…let's explore that darkened corner in that mind of yoursss again, ssshall we?" Nihlus seemed about to make a move to stop Sulhin, only to catch himself and step back. Involuntary tremors racked Monica as she became covered in darkness once more.

She was being forced to go through the same ordeal she had gone through only a few seconds ago. "You bastard!" Riku roared as he surged forward, ready to repay Sulhin's cruelty with the Way to Dawn. He couldn't hear Sora and Kairi's warnings; he was too busy thinking of ways to make Sulhin pay. He didn't notice that Nihlus had rushed forward until it was too late. He moved far faster than Riku had ever though was within his limits, grabbing Riku's wrist, stretching out his arm, and then sending a powerful punch upwards onto Riku's now venerable elbow.

Riku let out a cry, he felt like the bone had nearly been shattered, and it only got worse. Riku spun and tried to punch Nihlus, only to have a small shield rise and block Riku's desperate attempt. With a kick to the back of Riku's leg, Nihlus forced him onto the ground and then literally threw him towards Sulhin and Monica. As he spiraled through the air, Riku could see that Monica had been dropped and that Sulhin had turned his right arm into a blade and readied it to execute him as he flew towards the being of Darkness.

It seemed hopeless…but this was Riku we're talking about! The silver haired keyblade master managed to raise the Way to Dawn in time to block the brunt of the blow, so that it only scratched his right shoulder. Unfortunately, the force of the blow flung him onto the ground, and now his right arm felt entirely numb. He couldn't fight effectively, not for this battle…

Sulhin let out a growl and suddenly seemed to morph into a cloud of black smoke before he retuned to Nihlus once more. Riku breathed a sigh of relief, only to encounter a problem far, far worse than anything the super powered Nihlus and Sulhin could possibly come up with…Monica had latched onto him with all the strength of a starved bear on a freshly killed deer!

She seemed to be unaware of her own bodily reactions, it wouldn't have surprised Riku if she was in some kind of unconscious state and was only acting out of impulse and reflex! Still he couldn't help but feel uncomfortable even with that knowledge; he could hear her whimpering and feel her literally shaking in his arms! The general uncomfortableness combined with the fact that she was squeezing so tight that he couldn't breathe didn't help improve his take on the situation either!

"Sora, Kairi…if you want answers, follow us…" Nihlus said as he stepped back wards down one of the corridors before he seemed to outright vanish into the darkness of it.

"Riku you…um…yeah…" Sora was trying hard not to burst out laughing at Riku's face.

"Just take care of Monica, okay?" Kairi asked sweetly with a sly grin on her face. "And no funny stuff, mister!" Riku rolled his eyes and stuck his tongue at the pair as they turned their backs on him to pursue Nihlus.

"Dad…where's Orange and Black?" Monica asked, apparently in her dream/nightmare world. She spoke the colors "Orange" and "Black" as though they were names…. Riku shifted uncomfortably as he tentatively began to stroke Monica's hair. He really, really, didn't want to here about whatever it was that Nihlus and Sulhin had forced her to experience, and if he had to comfort her so she could shut up and go to sleep or unconsciousness or whatever else you want to call it, then that was the price he'd be willing to pay!

"Hey it's…alright…you're safe…" Riku said somewhat awkwardly. This soft and fuzzy comfort stuff really wasn't his area of expertise! Still, it did do the trick. Monica's death grip on him did lighten up enough so that he could breathe normally. However, she then proceeded to, of all things, snuggle up next to him. Riku had calmed her down, but she had yet to recover from her…unpleasant experience inside of her own mind.

Riku shifted uncomfortably before he resigned himself to wait like this. He had to admit Monica was kind of cute when she was asleep…in an old haggish kind of way.

_'…Damn hormones!'_

* * *

Sora and Kairi ran into the room Nihlus had led them to and saw the champion of darkness calmly standing in the middle of it. The room was circular and had no other doors other than the entrance. It was the closest thing to a battle arena in the ruin!

"Nihlus, what's going on, why are you doing this?!" Sora demanded. To him, it all seemed so pointless.

"You wan tot know why I'm fighting you? Why I'm fighting them? Why I'm fighting the light? Fine, you deserve that much…" Nihlus's tone was full of venom and suppressed anger. Sora and Kairi were both beginning to suspect that was why he had so much power at the moment, and yet wasn't feral. He was simply keeping them buried just beneath the skin…but how?

"I chose the darkness and the heartless of my own free will while Roxas, Namine, Aqua, and Terra were still recovering…"

"Wait, where are they?!" Kairi demanded angrily as she mentally berated herself for not noticing that they weren't anywhere in sight sooner.

"Roxas, Namine and, Aqua are fine, they're just unconscious…"

"And Terra?" Nihlus actually seemed reluctant to answer that question.

"…He was alive after Sulhin was through with him…it's my fault…I didn't pull myself together in time to realize what was going on… " Kairi and Sora both scowled at Nihlus's answer.

"Nihlus, how could you?!" they both yelled at the same time. Surprisingly Nihlus actually seemed to flinch.

"I knew you wouldn't understand…" he said bitterly, almost to himself. "I'm the champion of darkness; I can't deny that anymore than you can deny being the keyblade master or one of the princesses of heart! I…I never wanted power…I just wanted Aqua and Ven back…" Nihlus looked down at his clawed hand as if he were examining every moment of his entire life after becoming the champion of darkness. "To you and to all the denizens of the realm of light, I'm a monster, an abomination that shouldn't exist…but to them, to the heartless and the…the other inhabitants of the dark realms…."

Nihlus's tone was one of despair rather than anger. Now Sora and Kairi understood how he had gotten so powerful in so short a time. He wasn't just fueled by rage anymore…his sorrow was now tempered with it… "To them, I'm a hero…their champion and savior…" Nihlus looked up at Sora and Kairi once more and held his clawed and darkness infused hand/gauntlet. "…This is all I have left…I gave up my humanity and now…"

"Nihlus…" Sora started. He'd never quite thought of it that way. If people hated him for simply having a keyblade, would he want to help them?

"That doesn't make it right!" Kairi snapped. She was about to continue when she noticed that Nihlus seemed to be in a trance of some kind. Sulhin was talking to him…

Nihlus's eyes locked onto both Sora and Kairi as a scythe materialized into his hands. "Fight me!"

"What?!" both Sora and Kairi took steps back, surprised at Nihlus's sudden mood swing.

"You heard me! Kill me before I kill you!" Nihlus spun his scythe around in preparation to engage the two. "If you don't…I swear, I'll tear the hearts out of everyone you know and love, everyone you've ever met!" Sora gritted his teeth and took a battle stance. No one threatened his friends and lived to brag about it!

"I'm right with you, Sora!" Kairi called out as she took up a stance next to him. Sora nodded in response, as long as he and Kairi were together, nothing could stop them, not even Nihlus…

The two charged toward the dark champion, who swung at the two of them with his scythe. They both jumped over the blow and aimed their keyblades downward, coming down together in an X cross. Nihlus stumbled back a bit and spun around to see that Sora and Kairi were just now taking battle positions once again. They let out startled gasps when they realized one major advantage that Nihlus now held. The X shaped wound that they had inflicted upon his chest had regenerated almost instantly.

"That's not enough!" Nihlus yelled as he charged toward the two with unnatural speed, slashing with his scythe so viciously that he knocked them both back. Sora and Kairi grunted and then nodded to each other as they came to a halt. They both split up running in two different directions in an attempt to out flank Nihlus. If anything, he seemed disappointed.

"No, you work better together…" He spun around and grew a number of tentacles out of his back, all of which had thorn-like blades on them. One embedded itself in the wall closest to Kairi and then pulled Nihlus towards it. Kairi desperately tried to get out of the way, but she was only partially successful. She managed to avoid Nihlus when he tried to ram her, but her keyblade was nearly torn from her grip when he struck at her with his scythe. Two of the tentacles tried to impale her, but she twisted in the air to avoid them.

The two tendrils sliced her sides, causing her to bite her lip in an attempt to stifle the pain. Unfortunately, was on top of her in their aerial duel faster than she thought possible. He grabbed her by the front of her face and then threw her onto the ground, leaving an imprint of her body where she had landed. Nihlus reached down and roughly yanked her out of it, holding her in the air by her throat.

"Sora…if you don't kill me…I'll tear Kairi's heart out…." Nihlus stated ruthlessly. He was obviously trying to goad Sora into fighting harder… "If her heart is removed, she'll go into a coma until it's put back…it won't need to be turned into a heartless, I can hide it where you'll never find it…" Kairi tried unsuccessfully to pry Nihlus's fingers off her throat, even in her weakened condition. In doing so, she only caused more of her own blood to flow, some of it coming from her sides and a tiny stream coming from her mouth.

Nihlus had inflicted terrible injuries in the short time he held her in his power… "If you don't kill me, you'll never see Kairi again…"

"…no…don't…" Kairi whispered to herself. Sora had stuck to the plan of trying to surprise Nihlus so far, but if he kept using her as bait, then Sora would just jump out prematurely in an attempt to save her, regardless of what Nihlus did to him. "Sora…no…" she silently pleaded.

"…Very well…" Nihlsu forced Kairi onto the ground and pinned her right hand down with his foot so that she couldn't use her keyblade. Kairi simply wouldn't be able to physically best him, even if she wasn't three thirds of the way to death's doorstep. Nihlus raised his scythe over his head in preparation to finish Kairi off…

"KAIRI!!" Sora suddenly erupted from behind Nihlus, an almost demented expression was on his face as he held the Kingdom Key in such a way that it would impale Nihlus. Kairi felt her heart stop as everything seemed to go in slow motion. Nihlus, with his now enhanced physical attributes, was able to spin around in time to meet the Kingdom Key with his scythe. The blade of Nihlus's weapon dug into Sora's shoulder as the keyblade master continued to charge forward, intent on freeing Kairi, no matter the cost.

Nihlus simply spun around Sora, tearing the scythe's blade out of him before elbowing the brunette in the back and jumping up into the air when Sora swung the keyblade around in a desperate attempt to at least injure Nihlus in some way.

"…Shadow scythe limit break!" Nihlus yelled as two metallic wings replaced the tentacles on his back. His scythe seemed to grow less real and more, well, shadowy. It seemed to flicker and shift even as Nihlus prepared it for a strike. The champion of darkness slashed, sending a wave of darkness down upon both Sora and Kairi. The keybalde master threw himself on top of Kairi, taking the brunt of the attack for her while she tried to shove him to safety.

Sora felt his strength leaving him as the darkness chipped away at him, still, he had survived the agonizingly powerful blast and Kairi was safe…that was all that mattered to him now. "S-sora!" Kairi cried out as he fell off her after the wave of darkness had subsided. Kairi had tried to shove him out of the way, but he was in better condition than she was and he wouldn't have it, he was hell bent on protecting her. "Sora, please…" she begged as Sora shut his eyes with a weak smile on his face.

Kairi tightly squeezed his hand in some hope that it would miraculously revive him. "Kai..ri?" the princes of heart nodded eagerly, causing some of her tears to drip onto Sora's clothes. "It's…okay…nothing's going to…separate us…again…" Sora's eyes opened as he flashed Kairi on of his trademark smiles. Suddenly, a black sword was thrust at Sora's throat, pricking it slightly. Kair jerked up with her keyblade drawn only to yelp with surprise when her arms were suddenly pinned behind her by none other than Sulhin.

She struggled like a madwoman, but no matter how much she kicked or head butted, Sulhin's grip remained firm. She could do nothing as Nihlus stood over Sora with his shadow blade at the keyblade master's throat. "Sora…please…" to everyone's, except possibly, Sulhin's disbelief Nihlus was actually pleading with Sora. "Don't let it end like this…."

Sora glared up at Nihlus as he tried to lift his right hand to use the Kingdom Key to brush Nihlus's weapon away. He couldn't do it. Sora's hand shook as he raised it about two inches off the hard stone floor before it collapsed back onto it again. "I'm sorry…" was all Nihlus said as he prepared to execute Sora. He pointed the blade down at Sora's heart in preparation.

Five seconds passed…then ten…fifteen…finally, thirty seconds had passed and they all stood in the same positions. Nihluss' hands began to shake violently as he stared down at Sora. Suddenly, he dropped the sword, causing it to disappear as soon as it hit the ground. Nihlsu spun around, and to both Sora and Kairi's disbelief, tears, blue and crystal like, fell through his helmet as he spun around and walked away from Sora.

Sulhin suddenly released Kairi, causing her to fall to the ground, before he reentered Nihlus's body without comment on Nihlus's actions or current emotions…

"Twenty four hours…" Nihlus said in a relatively calm tone after he had taken enough time to get his voice level. "I'll give you twenty four hours to ready yourselves…" A dark door opened in front of Nihlus and he advanced toward it. "And Sora…I won't show either you or Kairi any mercy next time…none at all…fight me accordingly…" And with that, Nihlus left through the dark door, leaving Sora and Kairi in peace once more.

"Sora!" Kairi cried out as she dragged herself toward him. The sound of footfalls and men yelling could be heard in the rooms past. Apparently, Ven had arrived with his backup a little too late.

"Kairi…he spared us…why?"

Kairi felt her view ebbing and flowing as she struggled to remain conscious long enough to answer Sora's question. "Maybe…maybe he's in denial of…of the good inside him…" and with that, Kairi's head collapsed upon Sora's chest. The two would live to fight another day…for while the keyblade master were trying to recover from the wounds Nihlus had inflicted upon them in his terrifying display of power, Sulhin and he were mustering the single greatest army of heartless that had ever been seen in the history of the worlds.

The repercussions of the epic clash between the army of darkness and the keyblade masters would be something that the history books would recount as one of the single most defining moments in the history of the entire universe….

* * *

Okay, as you may have guessed, Nihlus brings more than a few friends with him in his assault on his own hometown…that was the epic battle that I tried to squeeze in here, but I guess you'll just have to be satisfied with wondering how the heck they're going to take Nihlus down…

And then there's Monica's little...past...I can say, without a shadow of doubt, that none of you know where "Orange" and "Black" are from. I'll give you a hint, though. The other characters of the game are all named after colors too due to them having their memories erased...

R&R please! And try not to hate a certain wielder of darkness too much…save it for Kayblade Master Xehanort when he comes in the next chapter or so!


	23. Chapter 22: The Army of Darkness pt2

Notes: Okay, this is it, the big battle you've all been waiting for! I'd just like to apologize in advance if this chapter makes you…unhappy… (You'll understand what I mean by the end of it…). In this one, you'll also see why Nihlus is acting the way he is and what he meant by "I blew it"…you know, when Aqua asked what happened to him…OH, and do try to read the song I put in here. It's…appropriate if you actually take the time to read it…

It suits Nihlus perfectly!

Rogue (me): Okay, on a side note, Nihlus found out about my plans and he hasn't been reacting very well, which has forced me to erect a barrier of impenetrable force fields around me!

Nihlus: (in his "beast form") GRAAAAGH!! (Beats relentlessly on the shielding in a homicidal, and borderline mindless, rage)

Rogue: Er, yeah…don't ask… (Eyes widen as a crack begins to form in the "impenetrable" shielding) Uh oh….shit!!

Nihlus: (breaks through the shielding with his bare, if clawed, hands and starts growling like a feral animal that's been infected by rabies)

Rogue: Um…I think now would be a good time to start the story before I get torn apart, limb from limb! (Oh, I don't own Kingdom Hearts or anything else I didn't come up with)

* * *

As they had so many times before, the three, hooded, nobodies sat around their meeting table, with Reniex standing immediately to Kinjex's right. It wasn't really out of some arrogant dismissal of her as a mere step up from one of the "common" nobodies, it was because she simply chose to stand there…it was something of a habit she had picked up during her tenor as Kinjex's unofficial body guard.

And that too, like so many other practices, stemmed from her past life when she still had a heart…

"Well, I'd say that the plan's going well!" Rombax exclaimed in an attempt to start a relatively normal conversation. Kinjex either spoke in his typical short phrases that just barely got hid point across or telepathically communicated, and that was something he only ever seemed to do with Reneiex or the other "normal" nobodies. And then there was the general's way of doing things…

"Yes…" the leader of the group said, almost to himself. "But now that Nihlus has run off on his own, we can't use our normal method to keep track on his progress." Rombax grunted in mild irritation.

"Why should we care what that emo boy does before he tries to kill Sora, Riku and Kairi? I mean, he's just going to run around either sulking or turning people into heartless!" Both Kinjex and Reneiex turned their heads toward Rombax, even though Kinjex's hood utterly concealed his face, it was clear that he was glaring at Rombax as harshly as Reniex. "Hey, calm down, I didn't call you emo…even though you are!"

A short sword suddenly seemed to materialize in Reniex's hand as she lunged for Rombax's throat with such speed that she seemed to be nothing more than a blur. A reflega spell suddenly stopped her attack before she could actually do any damage. Reniex spun around to face Kinjex, nearly causing her "hair", which was as white and synthetic looking as the "skin" of a dusk…as well as Reniex's own. She and Kinjex seemed to share some telepathic exchange before she reluctantly returned to her initial position, glaring daggers at Rombax as she did so.

"If you're done bickering, then can we please get back to more important things?" the leader asked with a sigh. "Now, we won't even be able to use Kinjex's crystal and my…abilities, to keep tabs on the keyblade masters much longer, but that won't be necessary anymore. Tell me, do you have the keyblades and the armor I told you to loot from the ruins?"

The other three nobodies nodded as Kinjex and Reniex pulled out two keyblades that were obviously aligned with darkness. They both resembled the "artificial" keyblade that Riku had used to duel Sora when he was being possessed by Xehanort's heartless. Rombax reached underneath the table, pulled out a large box, and opened it. Its content was a suit that was almost identical to the suit that Riku wore during his possession.

It was mainly black and red, with the heartless symbol taking up nearly two-thirds of the chest of the suit, but it also had the occasional hint of purple. It too would hug the skin very closely, just like Riku's suit; it would also more or less show the muscle system of whoever wore it. The suit, however, had some metal that resembles the lower jaw of some carnivorous animal that would hug the underside of whoever wore it's mouth, and it also didn't have the "half skirt" that seemed to serve no purpose on Riku's suit.

"Ah, good…" the lead nobody commented as he got up to examine both the keyblades and the armor. "Kinjex, I trust you've prepared the necessary spells?" The master-level magician of a nobody nodded as he set the keyblade that he had been holding up aside. Kinjex approached the suit with his right hand upheld to it; magic energy had already begun to lace his hand. A few seconds later, his spell was cast.

A small wave of energy short forth from his hand and entered the suit. Almost immediately, a black, almost glass-like, helmet formed out of the metal jaw that hung just above the neck of the suit. It was plain and simple, little more and an oval shaped dome that would utterly conceal the identity of whoever wore the suit. Of course, its simplicity would mean that no one would suspect that it was in fact the source of the magic that would…afflict the suit's wearer with certain…limitations…

"So, I'm guessing this means that Xehanort's apprentice is going to be ready in a little while?" Rombax asked as he looked at the suit, somewhat unimpressed. "I guess that spell's going to be a blessing if they're going to have to put up with his personality!"

"…Indeed…" the leader replied as he sat back down into his chair. So far, everything was going according to plan…still, the upcoming and inevitable battle between the keyblade masters and Nihlus was, without doubt, the most unpredictable part of "the plan".

For all the nobody general's brilliance, skill, and charisma, there was simply no way to truly be able to predict or guarantee the results of this one battle. As tempting as it was to intercede personally, that was something the nobodies, with the possible exception of Reniex, couldn't do.

Especially given the…connection that he and Kinjex had with Sora and Nihlus respectively…

* * *

Sora groaned and buried himself into the sheets of the bed that he was laying in, as someone tried to shake him awake. "N-no…just five more minutes…." He moaned as he halfheartedly tried to shove the unfriendly hand away. He was rewarded with a punch to the head for his trouble.

"Sora, wake up, we don't have five minutes, you lazy bum!" Instantly Sora's eyes shot open. He hadn't recognized whose voice it was until the speaker had said "lazy bum".

"K-kairi!" he yelled as he jerked out of the bed, nearly headhunting the princess of heart as he did so. "You're alright!" Kairi grinned heartily in reply.

"I've been alright for the past five hours! You've just been sleeping the entire time!" Sora grinned sheepishly, only to have he and Kairi's moment ruined when someone began clapping and chuckling at the same time. Sora looked around the room to see that it was clearly an infirmary of some sort, small beds lined the walls, leaving only enough space to walk and administer to the injured. He saw that it was Ven who was clapping and chuckling as he walked towards Sora and Kairi.

"Well, I'd say that she's got you whipped, eh Sora?" Ven made a crud imitation of a whiplash sound to illustrate his point as he grinned smugly. Kairi burst into her own round of nervous giggles to hide her noticeable blush while Sora just sat there with a curious expression on his face. He had no idea what Ven's words meant, but he did get the impression that it was not something he'd probably want to know, given that it made Kairi blush scarlet in several seconds flat!

"Great, so now that happy hour's over, would you mind explaining to the rest of use what the hell happened back there?" Ven's abrupt change of mood immediately sobered both Sora and Kairi. "Nihlus ran off didn't he? We found Terra deeper in the ruin…he uh…." Ven just motioned to one of the many beds in the room, causing Sora to look at it curiously while Kairi lowered her head.

She had already seen the extent of Terra's injuries…

The bed that Terra had once been using had a large amount of dried blood right in its middle. Sora really, really didn't want to know the specifics of just how Nihlus, or rather, Sulhin, had tried to kill Terra. "Yeah, Kairi was too busy fussing over you when you were unconscious to tell everyone just what happened after the pair had chased after Nihlus…" Kairi's view instantly shifted down to her feet as soon as Ven finished with a smug grin. At least he had recovered from whatever it was that had gotten him upset in the first place.

"So, you two lovebirds ready to start explaining?"

* * *

"He did WHAT?!" Riku literally yelled at the top of his lungs. His arm had been healed with magic, thanks to the same people who had treated Sora, Kairi, and Terra. Right now, they were all sitting in they mayor's office. For obvious reasons, he had taken a great deal on interest in Nihlus's intentions. Aqua and Ven were sitting in chairs; the former seemed to be brooding over Nihlus, and Terra was lying on a coach that they had moved in earlier so that he wouldn't be left out of the meeting. The chaser's entire chest was covered with bandages to the point where he resembled a mummy almost. Everyone had been against letting him leave the infirmary, but he had been adamant.

Monica and Riku were both fuming right next to each other. They both had reasons to be furious with Nihlus…though, on a side note, Riku was inwardly relived that whatever Nihlus did had knocked Monica unconscious before she actually began clinging to him in fear. There was no telling what kinds of acts of violence she would do if she ever found out…the fact that Riku got the impression that she hadn't been fighting to the best of her ability didn't help much either. That grenade she threw at Nihlus was the only normal weapon, apart from her rifle, that seemed to have any effect on him. Riku got the feeling that if she hadn't been so cocky during their first fight, then it could have actually been a challenge…there's no way a hag like her could come close to marching him!

"That son of a bitch!" Monica yelled, joining in with Riku's own ranting.

"Could you please watch your language?" Terra moaned as he tried to sit up, using his keyblade as a crutch, only to slump back down again. His movements briefly exposed a portion of is muscular chest, showing that it seemed almost infected with leftover darkness that had yet to fade away. Sulhin had apparently tried to do the same thing to him that he did to Monica, only the being of darkness had nearly consumed him physically before Nihlus managed to snap out of his blind emotions long enough to simply knock Terra unconscious. "Now, you say that Nihlus claimed that he was going to try and take Sora's heart again?"

Both Sora and Kairi nodded in response. "Then we should make preparations. It would be best to-," Terra was suddenly interrupted by Namine letting out a startled cry, she and Roxas had both been standing in front of the Lloyd's father's window the entire time.

"Huh, what's wrong, Nam?" Monica asked as she walked up to where the two nobodies were standing. "Oh….holy fu-," She was abruptly cut off by Roxas placing his hand over her mouth out of reflex. Normally, Monica probably would have reacted with overwhelming force at such an indignity, but right now, she was too busy staring at what held Roxas and Namine mesmerized.

The mayor's office was more or less the tallest building in the walled town, from it you could see past the walls. And just outside was easily the single largest force of heartless that even Sora had even seen. What was worse, though, was the fact that the army wasn't composed solely of weak heartless such as armored knights and shadows. Several darksides seemed to be leading the force, which in turn was composed entirely of "pureblood" heartless, that is, heartless without the heartless emblem on them, made only of darkness. There were heartless that none of them had even seen in all their time as keyblade masters or, in Monica's case, commanders of a local militia. They seemed to be a cross between shadow and soldiers.

They were slightly taller than both and made completely of darkness like a shadow was. Their heads greatly resembled the helmet of a soldier's, but they held curved swords in their right hands and were far less jumpy than both shadows and soldiers, though they did make the occasional twitch.

"We have a problem…" Namine said to everyone who hadn't had a chance to look out the window.

"A very big problem that might…make things a little complicated…" Roxas added as he and Namine exchanged nervous glances at each other. Neither wanted to be the one to have to tell that there was an army of heartless surrounding the town that would have made even Riku think twice before just blindly charging in, keyblade ready.

"A PROBLEM?!" Monica yelled as she snapped out of her surprise at seeing so many heartless. "I'll say, we're royally fu-!" Roxas's hand once again plastered itself over Monica's mouth. She may not have been very tactful or much of a moral booster, but at least she was honest. Monica glared for a second and then peeled Roxas's hand off her mouth.

"Rox…" she started sweetly causing Namine to involuntarily clench her fists. No one, except her and maybe a few other friends, could call Roxas "Rox"! That was her name for him! "If you ever do that again, then I swear, I'll cause you more pain than the devil could in a century, with all of his hellish instruments of torture, with just five minutes and this pencil…" Monica held up a pencil that she had picked up from the mayor's desk without his permission.

Roxas gulped nervously and nodded. Form what he had seen; Monica was the kind of person who'd actually do that sort of thing. She smirked in satisfaction and turned to face everyone else in the room who, for obvious reasons, were as confused as hell about now. "Oh yeah, there's a huge army of heartless surrounding the town and most likely preparing to tear the hearts out of everyone in it, nothing out of the ordinary!"

"WHAT?!" Inwardly, Monica revealed in their reactions. It was so much fun annoying people like that…especially Riku!

* * *

So far Nihlus's emotional state had been deteriorating at a rate that was far too rapid for Sulhin's comfort. The full horror of his predicament had sunk in shortly after he had spared Sora. While Nihlus had realized that the changes he had gone through, as well as the fact that he had tried to kill the people he grew up with in his hometown, would mean that he would never really be accepted anywhere in the realm of light, he had only truly understood that concept five hours ago. In the ensuing flood of despair, rage, and grief, he had destroyed approximately seventy five percent of the interior of the Castle That Never was before he sunk into a depression outright.

After that, Sulhin had convinced the boy to put his emotions to useful purpose rather than just lashing out at anything that got within five meters of him. To Nihlus, that could only mean one thing, going on a heartless making spree. And that was where they were now. Nihlus was sitting on a rock that gave him a good view of the Chinese village below, The Land of The Dragons had been the unlucky place that he happened to pick. Nihlus could see the heartless that he had brought along with him charge down and proceed to rip the hearts out of every single person in the village, swelling their ranks by a fair amount in the process.

He had already done this several times; in fact, he'd demolished a small city single handedly, his cold anger giving him the raw power needed to tear the buildings apart as though they were nothing. Just hack a few supports here and there and the entire building would come tumbling down, it was easy! Of course, this whole thing was little more than a slaughter. The soldiers that tried to stop him all had their hearts torn out with but an absent-minded flick of his power, and their weapons were utterly useless against the darkness that formed his armor.

It felt good the first few times. Sure, these people may not have been the ones who shot Aqua, and they hadn't actually cast him out like the people on his adopted home world no doubt had about not, but that didn't matter. Nihlus knew he had always been considered an abomination of darkness by everyone who lived in the light; he just looked the part now! Still, even he could only go on anger for so long. Nihlus was a lot of things, and not all of them positive, but one thing he wasn't was a liar.

The truth was he, not Ashton or anyone else was responsible for his virtual exile. He could have just walked away and gotten Aqua to a safe place while Sora, Kairi, Ven, Riku, and Terra sorted the whole thing out, but no. Nihlus had allowed his darker emotions to dominate him; he chose to turn around and try to kill everyone in a two mile radius! And that was what had reduced him to his current state: sitting on a rock listening to some music he found to be somewhat soothing before.

His helmet had receded so that he could use the headphones that he had found in The Melodious Nocturne's room. Nihlus shut his eyes to the world around him. The song would only last a few minutes and then he'd be forced back into the cruel world of reality, but for now, he would just have to cherish the small amount of peace he had now…

_Drawn in by an unseen cold hand,_

_I pass even time as it flows to eternity._

_As your eyes look away, into the hazy distance,_

_What is revealed to them, I cannot see._

Nihlus was slightly surprised; he could actually tell what the heck the person was singing this time. But then, all the other time he had listened to it, he hadn't been trying to shut himself off from the world, trying to deny that he had lost everything.…

_As the moonlight shines on my bitter cold fingers._

_Frozen tears of mine begin to flow anew._

_I look at the sky. That distant far-off dream,_

_It always has me in its view._

_Unafraid, I reach my hand into the darkness._

_I am at the point of no return._

_If I truly realize the person I am,_

_Hidden away inside my deepest memories._

Nihlus's eyes instantly snapped open when he heard the words of that last line. He got up and opened a dark door, stepping in as he did so. He was just about to actually close it and walk through the darkness when the song continued.

_I still want to believe that you will return to_ _me._

_Until you are with me, together in this place._

_I still want to feel until the end of time._

_The gentle loving touch of your hands on my face_.

Nihlus stopped dead in his tracks and spun around back toward the still open dark door. That last line…it left him seriously confused. The rest of the song had suited him perfectly, but this one? Nihlus shook his head. '_No, it's not true…it's just a song…,'_ Still, deep down, a part of him disagreed with his mind's denial of whether or not the words of the song were accurate about what Nihlus wanted…

_Trapped inside this cage made of glass,_

_Hurt feelings held captive in the cold and icy night._

_From far beyond the infinite dark,_

_There must always be a ray of light._

He winced when he heard this. The opposite of the expression "the closer you get to the light, the greater your shadow becomes" was true…even on the darkest of nights the stars and moon were visible.

_I know that your eternal shining light_

_Will embrace me in the warmth of infinity._

_While trying to run from the pain of reality,_

_I'm losing sight of what is so important to me._

The song was abruptly cut off as Nihlus furiously tore the headphones off and stormed out of the dark door, back into The Land of The Dragons. He crushed the headphones in his claws and then threw them down the hill towards the village he had commanded the heartless to attack. There was no such thing as redemption…at least not for him! Just before Roxas and Namine came waltzing into the room he happened to be in, Nihlus had truly gone past the point of no return…he had given up his humanity, his will to just go back to the way things were before Xemnas and Vexen stepped in.

_'You humans are very paradoxical when it comes to your emotions and your actionsss…'_

_'Oh, Sulhin…did you have fun eating those soldiers?'_ Nihlus asked in an attempt to change the subject. Sulhin had already explained what he was. Just like when certain circumstances were met, Sora would get a keychain which could change the keyblade, the same could happen to Nihlus with Sulhin/Shadow, only he couldn't get Shadow back by simply wishing for it.

_'…Don't change the sssubject on me…not yet,'_ that was the problem with Sulhin, he was much, much harder to fool than Shadow!_ 'I'm curiousss…for example, Sssora would gladly die to sssave Kairi, and yet, that would simply devastate her and make life not worth living. If she did the sssame for him, the effect would be very much the sssame. How is dying to sssave someone you care about what you humansss call love, when you're only dooming them to a lifetime of grief, assuming they don't kill themselvesss then and there?'_

Nihlus was taken aback at Sulhin's question. First off, he really didn't know how to answer it, and secondly what the heck had gotten the being of darkness thinking about…tender emotions? That love stuff wasn't exactly the kind of thing that Nihlus was either familiar with or good at!

_'Er…I…hm, I guess it's just a human thing...'_ Sulhin mentally grunted in discontent with Nihlus's vague answer. _'It's just acting on the spur of the moment…you don't really think about what's going to happen afterwards…shielding them is the most important thing to you at that instant…nothing else seems to matter. Why do you ask?'_

_'Curiosity… "love" as you humansss call it seems to be both ssselfish and ssselfless at the sssame time…'_ Sulhin seemed content with Nihlus's answer, but there was something else…there was a reason other then curiosity that had caused him to ask Nihlus such a philosophical question.

_'So, why did you REALLY ask me that, Sulhin?'_ the being of darkness mentally squirmed, he had been caught. Nihlus was currently supper charged with his emotions right now, even if they seemed to be having a relatively normal conversation Nihlus's emotions were just beneath his skin, waiting to erupt. He could simply dominate Sulhin into doing whatever it was he wanted!

_'Well…the way you described the way people act when they're in "love", as you call it…'_ Sulhin was clearly reluctant to answer but a little mental prodding from Nihlus corrected that. '_You…acted in a similar manner when it came to saving Aqua…do you…care for her?'_ A long silence followed as, to all outward appearances, Nihlus just stood there as his heartless began to gather around him, both out of curiosity and to await direction.

Before they had all been extremely concerned for him when he went berserk in the castle, they had even tried to (unsuccessfully) learn to play monopoly in an attempt to try and cheer Nihlus up. The heartless were all simple minded and driven only by emotion and instinct, they couldn't fully grasp the concept that they simply couldn't replace the company of Aqua and Ven in Nihlus's eyes…that, and the fact that they weren't exactly the best conversationalists!

_'…Yes…'_ Nihlus finally admitted after an agonizingly long period of soul searching. Sulhin could feel that Nihlus had gone through every single memory that led up to where they were now._ 'I…I guess I always did consider her to be…special…but that doesn't matter anymore…'_ Nihlus clinched his newly-formed fist, causing his claws to dig into his own hand. The black blood simply oozed down his armor and was reabsorbed, no real harm was done._ 'I doubt she ever reciprocated my…feelings…and even if she did…well…now I'm just a monster, a freak…'_ Nihlus unclenched his fist as he randomly picked another world to start tormenting, there were so many that none of the keyblade masters had never even seen on the map of a gummi ship, much less explored!

_'Maybe…maybe it's better this way…if they…if she hates me, then she won't hold back if we fight…,'_ One of the many childhood memories of Nihlus flashed through his mind…it was one in which he and Aqua happened to be exploring a cave one day and found some beautiful crystals. There was only one large enough to take as a trophy, and Nihlus let Aqua take it, at first saying it was an early birthday present since her birthday wasn't too far off at the time, and then falling back on the excuse that he had borrowed some munny from her earlier, and the crystal was just his was of repaying her.

Now that Nihlus thought about it, there were so many time in the past where he could have come clean about his feelings, but didn't…again, he had screwed up and caused his own suffering in the process.

"Heh, I guess that's all I've ever been…a screw up…"

_'The heartlessss, don't think you're a ssscrew up or monster…'_

"Hm…tell that to the rest of the world…and to Aqua…see if they share their opinion…"

* * *

Namine's head lay on Roxas's shoulder as the two nobodies sat on the rooftop of one of the larger buildings. Their arms were intertwined around each others waists as they just sat there, trying to ignore the heartless army that had gathered around the town. The Twilight was nearly upon them, and by extension, the attack that Nihlus intended to lead. "Roxas?" Namine asked as she opened her eyes, she had been content to just sit their next to the love of her life, but now she couldn't dismiss what had been on her mind ever since the army of heartless had arrived, blocking off any attempts at escape.

"Yes, Nam?" Namine took in a breath of air as she prepared to say just what was on her mind.

"I'm…scared of losing you…" Roxas turned his head so that he and Namine were looking at each other. "It's just…part of me wants to just open up a dark door and leave…I won't just leave Sora and Kairi, but…I…don't want to lose you when. Nihlus comes..." Roxas stared at Namine curiously before his facial expression turned into a gentle smile.

"I know how you feel…I feel the same way…" Roxas sighed with relative contentment as he and Namine turned their heads forward to watch the sunset. It would have been easy to just open up a dark door and jump through it. Nihlus had no grudge of any sort against the two nobodies, they both knew that he wouldn't even send a single shadow heartless to stop them if they tried to leave but…they couldn't and wouldn't just abandon Sora to have his heart ripped out.

"Hey, uh, Namine…" Roxas started slowly, he was clearly nervous.

"Yes, Roxas?"

"I'm…not sure if we can win this battle…" as much as it pained Roxas to admit, he knew that Nihlus, in his current form, was way out of his league. He had beaten both Sora and Kairi to within an inch of their lives without breaking a sweat for crying out loud! "So I…I just wanted to say that I…I love you, Namine…" Kairi's nobody jerked her head to the side to see Roxas looking down at his feet, his face was beat red.

Namine smiled her typically angelic smile and leaned against Roxas like she had before. "…I love you too…" Roxas smiled and began to stroke her hair as time seemed to pass more slowly for the two nobodies. They both would have stayed like that forever if they could have…

Meanwhile, in a different part of town than the two love struck nobodies, Aqua and Ven were ferociously training in a town square, neither of them were wearing their suits of chaser armor since Ven hadn't been able to get his from the gummi ship. The fight had to be fair; otherwise neither of them would get anything out of it!

"Ugh, good one, Ven!" Aqua grunted as Ven leaped away from a deadlock the two had been in. Ven had proven to be an incredibly acrobatic fighter, dodging, jumping, and making rapid attacks throughout the entire fight. Even without magic, he was able to keep Aqua on her toes the entire time.

"Yeah, thanks!" Ven panted as he unsummoned his keyblade, which he had finally decided to name the "Jester's Forte'," Even in the worst of times, he still knew how to stay lighthearted. "Hey, uh, how are you taking…you know?" Ven was, of course, referring to Nihlus's going rogue and turning on everyone.

"Oh, that…" Aqua replied, almost to herself, as she and Ven lowered their keyblades. "I'm…not worried one bit, because I know we'll get him back! If he doesn't come willingly I'll beat him over the head with my bare hands until he snaps out of it!"

"I don't think it's going to be that easy…" Ven and Aqua looked up to see Riku jumping down from a nearby rooftop. "He's going to be a challenge to take down, even for me. The way I see it, I have to agree with what Terra said at that meeting of ours after we saw the heartless out there: the only way we can snap Nihlus out of it is to separate him and that Sulhin thing."

"No, that'll take away his emotions and leave him as a hollow shell!" Aqua seemed livid at the idea of doing something like that to Nihlus. "Look, I made a promise to myself when he gave this to me…" Aqua dug around in one of the pockets of her blue jeans and pulled out a small, blue, crystal that seemed to glow with an inner light of some sort. "I promised that I'd pay him back for giving this to me…and I don't break promises, especially to friends!"

Riku sighed and shrugged. "Fine, do whatever you want to do; I'll be getting something to eat if you need me…"

"Oh, no you don't Riky!" out of nowhere, Monica seemed to materialize, angrily putting her hands on her hips, with her rifle strapped across her back. "You're supposed to help me spar!" Riku at first recoiled with surprise at Monica, but then composed himself with a scowl.

"I don't take orders from you! I'll do what I want when I want!" Riku was about to shove Monica out of the way when something suddenly clicked in his mind. "Wait, you were stalking me the entire time weren't you?"

"Nope!" Monica replied in an almost cheerful manner as she shook her head from side to side in a cocky manner that only served to further irritate Riku. "I just followed you while you were walking around town being an emo boy!"

"Then you were stalking me!" Riku exclaimed, somewhat horrified. "I can't believe this, we're about to be attacked by an entire army of heartless, and you're spending your time stalking me?!"

"No you idiot"! Monica shot back crossly. "It's only stalking if the person being stalked doesn't know about the stalker! I told you that I wasn't going to let you out of my sight until I won my bandanna back! I can't help it if you're too stupid to put two and two together!"

Riku instantly summoned The Way to Dawn at this; there was no way he was going to take crap like that from anyone, especially Monica! "Alright, you want this back?" Riku asked as he pointed to the blue bandana that was tied around his neck. "Then come and get it!" Monica grinned cockily in reply as she took out her rifle and ran out of Riku's striking range.

Apparently she had found a way to get that sparing session out of Riku without having ti come up with some kind of blackmail!

"I swear, I'm not sure if those two are a curse or a blessing!" Once again, Aqua and Ven spun around in time to see Terra limping toward them. He was now dressed in his normal, unarmored, attire and was having to use his keyblade as a crutch.

"Terra, shouldn't you be in bed?" Ven asked concernedly. Terra shook his head form side to side as he chuckled to himself.

"No no, those heartless will rip out my heart whether I'm in a hospital bed or out here fighting. Still, don't worry about me. I'll stay just behind the frontlines so I won't be a hindrance to you." Ven nodded in reply, somewhat comforted by Terra's air of casualness.

"Hey, uh, Terra," Aqua started a little nervously. "Did you happen to see Nihlus out there with the heartless?" The chaser looked at the blue haired mage with sympathy in his eyes before he shook his head.

"No, I didn't see him, but he may be out there right now. Those heartless...they're organized into formations. That's something only Nihlus would be able to do, and then there's the fact hat more and more of them keep coming through the dark doors…." Aqua and Ven both began to reflect on Terra's words. Nihlus may or amy not have been among the heartless right now, but he would undoubtedly be leading the actual attack. Why else would he have bothered to make the heartless a true fighting force if he had no intention of personally directing the attack? Besides, he had promised Sora and Kairi that he would try to take the keyblade master's heart….and show no mercy in doing so.

"I'm afraid that all we can do now is wait and pray…"

* * *

Riku couldn't help it. For once in his lifetime, as much as it stung his pride to admit it, he was scared. He and Monica both stood on one of the walls that surrounded the town. The group had decided to evenly spread themselves across the walls. They hadn't seen Nihlus yet and thus had no idea where he would personally attack. The heartless had completely surrounded the town and night had fallen. Suddenly, the army of darkness, which had been quietly enforcing its siege before, began to growl and bang their claws and weapons against the ground or each other's armaments in a kind of war chant.

"You scared, emo boy?" Monica asked, though her tone was far less teasing than it had been all the other times.

"Not at all…" Riku growled back as he summoned his keyblade and the members of the town guard readied their own weapons and magic. There was no way that he would admit that he was actually scared, especially not to Monica!

"Oh, I see…" Monica said quietly. For some reason, she seemed to be a heck of a lot more thoughtful than she ever was before. "…Well…I am…" Riku jerked his head sideway to look at Monica in disbelief. "Hey, don't look at me like that!" she actually seemed to be a little embarrassed, something that had been unprecedented before. "Eyes on the heartless, Riky!" Riku rolled his eyes as Monica regressed back to her "normal" personality.

He'd get to the bottom of it later…not that he intended to stick around after everything got sorted out with Nihlus!

The heartless suddenly stopped their war chant as they quietly just stood their before suddenly erupting in what sounded like their equivalent of a cheer. "Nihlus must be making some kind of speech to them…" Riku muttered, not caring whether or not Monica actually heard him. The cycle of the heartless quieting down before they erupted in another round of cheers continued several more times, visibly unnerving the militia members that happened to be eyeing the three darksides that dominated the battlefield.

And suddenly everything changed. The heartless all surged forward, seemingly hell-bent on overwhelming the defenders of the walled town. "Ready…aim…" Monica ordered loud enough for everyone on her and Riku's portion of the wall to hear. The members of the town guard readied their weapons, and in some cases their magic, in response. "FIRE!" A barrage of bullets, fire spells, dark aura attacks from Riku, and energy shots from Monica's rifle tore into the force of heartless.

Again and again they fired, just barely managing to keep the heartless off the walls; however, there was one question that plagued everyone's minds. Why hadn't the darksides joined in the attack? They were just standing there, giving off an aura of impatience. While it was true that only a keyblade could truly "kill" a heartless, normal weapons would temporarily dissipate the darkness around the captive heart but the heartless would just reform after a while, it seemed pointless to just throw the heartless against the defenses of the town. While having the heartless just teleport into the place would break up their formations and organization, it would be overall less costly if Nihlus intended to take the town by storm!

It was an obvious killing zone!

"Wait, they're falling back!" one of the members of the militia called out. Riku couldn't help but scowl, it was blatantly obvious that Nihlus was up to something, but what?

"Phew, good thing too! I couldn't cast another spell to save my life!"

"Yeah, same here!" Riku and Monica exchanged horrified looks as realization dawned upon them as they listened to the exchanged between two of the militia members.

"Hey, keep your guard up, no slouching!" Monica ordered in what sounded like an almost panicked tone as both she and Riku began to scan for Nihlus on their side of the wall. That entire attack had been both to probe the defenses and tire them out! Their attention was drawn to the middle of the heartless lines; the heartless seemed to form a corridor as an armored figure moved through them. "Wait, he's not trying to sneak in?"

Riku grunted, reluctantly admitting that he too was surprised as Nihlus slowly walked toward the walls, standing just out of weapons range. "Hm, wait, what's he-?" Riku's query was suddenly cut off by Nihlus violently drawing two curved shadow blades out of his back and then slamming both of them onto the ground in an arc. A huge dark door that was roughly as tall as a medium sized building formed up behind him, and through it poured what seemed to a swarm of shadow blades. "TAKE COVER!" Riku yelled as the blade swarm flew towards the wall. It ripped right through defenses, seemingly absorbing a few, unfortunate, members of the militia who happened to be ducking behind the parts of the wall where it struck.

"Why that little…" Monica growled as she aimed her rifle upwards, toward the swarm of blades. She fired and her shot did indeed vaporize several of the blades amongst the countless others. Unfortunately, the swarm seemed to have a mind of its own and arched downward immediately, about to repeatedly skewer Monica from above.

"MOVE!" Riku yelled as he grabbed her by the waist and jumped off the wall, taking her with him. He was just in time; the swarm of blades came crashing down upon the segment of the wall that they had both occupied a few seconds ago. It completely and utterly destroyed it, if either of them had been there earlier; they would have been either diced into mincemeat or outright crushed into oblivion.

Riku dusted himself off as Monica angrily punched him in the arm. "I was fine; I didn't need your help!" Riku simply rolled his eyes in reply.

"A simple "thank you" would do…" Monica was just about to open her mouth to make some kind of come back when suddenly her eyes widened and she pointed behind Riku. The silver haired keyblade master raised an eyebrow and then turned around to see what had her worked up…and then immediately copied her reaction. The darksides that had previously been dormant had advanced upon the wall and were just about to smash it apart as though it were nothing more than a minor annoyance, and, to them, it was. There was nothing anyone could do as all three darksides brought the wall down with their fists, the blade swarm that Nihlus had conjured up simply killed or ripped the heart anyone that tried to take a shot at the massive heartless.

The militia members were sent flying as the wall was virtually blown apart. Judging from the sounds coming from the other parts of the once-walled town, the same thing had happened with all the other walls, and they too were getting swarmed by the heartless. "G-get 'em!" one of the nearby members of the town guard cried out when they saw Nihlus walking in at the head of an ocean of heartless. The member of the town guard charged toward Nihlus with a fellow who happened to agree with his "plan".

"No don't!" Monica yelled out as she jumped to her feet, but it was too late to save the impetuous members of the militia. Nihlus almost seemed to roll his eyes underneath his helmet as he literally caught the swords of both of the foolish town guards and threw them into the waiting sea of heartless. It didn't take a genius to figure out why two more of the new breed of heartless that looked like a cross between soldiers and shadows appeared behind Nihlus.

"Get out of my way…" Nihlus warned in a dangerous tone as his trademark scythe formed into his hands. Unlike the two fools that had tried to attack him earlier, Riku and Monica both knew how to fight and they both possessed weapons that could actually do Nihlus harm.

"Over my dead body!" Riku hissed as he charged forward with The Way to Dawn pointed at Nihlus's heart…or where it would have been. If anything, Nihlus seemed annoyed with Riku's refusal to back down from a fight he couldn't win. Still, that was Riku for you: stubborn and prideful…but in a good way. Riku lunged at Nihlus, only to have his strike caught on the blade of Nihlus's scythe.

"I'm warning you…" Nihlus shoved Riku away violently, just in time to raise his left arm to form a shield and block Monica's shots from her rifle. That thing sure did sting a lot for a normal weapon! Still, Monica was forced to stop shooting at Nihlus when Riku once again charged him with his keyblade. As much fun as it would have been to "accidentally" shoot Riku, even Monica knew that now wasn't the best time to be petty. "If you don't get out of my way…" Riku jumped over a slash Nihlus made at his feet, landing on the blade of the scythe before jumping into the air when Nihlus slung it over his shoulder, embedding it into the ground.

Riku smirked as he swung his keyblade down; Nihlus was looking down at the ground instead of up at him! How stupid could you get? His sense of smugness and triumph was soon replaced by a growing sense of horror as Nihlus actually caught the Way to Dawn on the palm of his left hand before he gripped the blade. Black blood coated the portion of the keyblade where Nihlus gripped it, but he didn't even seem to notice. "…I"LL EAT YOU ALIVE!!" Nihlus abruptly grabbed Riku by his throat, squeezing so hard that it actually elicited a gasp of surprise from his lips.

_'Let'sss sssee what you're afraid of…'_ Riku could see the darkness spreading from Nihlus's hand to his skin as Sulhin taunted him. The heartless that Nihlus had lead into the town began to branch off, running in every direction in search of hearts to embrace into the darkness. Riku's view began to shift and change, it was getting difficult to see, as though he was being pulled into another world. 'Bah, blasted weapon of light!' Jduging from Sulhin's irritation, The Way to Dawn was interfering somewhat with the process of "eating" him. Still, Riku's heart began to beat at an almost impossible speed when something began to materialize behind Nihlus.

Unlike the rest of the world around him, Riku could see it clearly. The "something" was a copy of Riku, only with the suit he wore when he was possessed by Xehanort's heartless on, and it had the heartless guardian growing out of its back. "Power…give me more…power…" Riku felt his eyes widen as he tried to break Nihlus's grip on his throat as the physical manifestation of his deepest and darkest fear began to slowly walk toward him in an almost zombie-like fashion, holding a bloody version of the soul eater sword that Riku had used before he got his keyblade.

_'That'sss what you're afraid of? Pathetic, Monica'sss wass for more…interesting!'_ Suddenly, Nihlus turned his head sideways, causing Riku to do the same out of curiosity as to what could possibly have distracted Nihlus…that, and to avoid looking at the still advancing incarnation of his inner fears. Riku saw Nihlus staring down the barrel of Monica's energy rifle. The blonde smirked before she fired point-blank at Nihlus's head, sending him flying and forcing him to release Riku.

"HA, now we're even!" Monica beamed in triumph as she said this, just before she noticed what condition Riku was in. "Hey, Riku, are you alright? He didn't show you anything…bad, did he?" Riku blinked in surprise as he lay on the ground, staring upwards at Monica's questioning face. Was she showing concern for him? Suddenly, Riku started laughing hysterically causing Monica to outright seem to panic. "Oh God…he drove you insane didn't he?!" Riku began to quiet down just enough to actually form an intelligent sentence.

"That's the first time that you've called me by my real name…" Monica just looked down at him for about two seconds before realization struck her.

"WHAT?! Why you…you…you bastard!" Riku could practically see the steam coming out of Monica's ears as she fumed. "I thought you went insane or something, you stupid git!" Riku still wore a smirk as he got off the ground, only to hear the sound of clapping. Both eh and Monica turned around to see that Nihlus was the one doing it.

"Very good…that actually hurt…and quite a bit too!" Nihlus's helmet seemed to have just finished reconstructing itself, not even it could just shrug off a point blank shot from Monica's rifle. "But you haven't stopped me from finding Sora…isn't that right, master of the keyblade?" An overly loud "Huh?!" came from behind Nihlus, followed by the appearance of both Sora and Kairi, who wore expressions of disbelief. "I control darkness itself; did you really think you could sneak up on me?"

"Well…yeah!" Sora replied with a hint of a goofy smile as he shrugged.

"Nihlus, why are you doing this? I thought you said that you didn't want to hurt Sora or anyone else that you would try to find another way to restore the balance!" Kairi was glaring daggers at Nihlus as she tightly gripped her keyblade. She felt an overwhelming feeling of betrayal. Out of all of them, minus Aqua and Ven, she had the most faith in Nihlus being basically good person; no matter how much darkness he surrounded himself with, but now…

"It's simple, I tried to deny what I was…we all knew that this was going to happen." Nihlus actually seemed reluctant, even sad. "…One of us has to win, there's no point on denying it, but…I just want you to know, I truly did enjoy my time with you guys…now, stop me, kill me if you can…I'll show you no mercy this time…" Nihlus took a battle stance as his scythe returned to his hand.

"Monica, you rally everyone back together against the heartless, we'll take care of Nihlus!" Riku hollered. Monica' looked shocked and was about to refuse when she realized that Riku was right. She would only get in the way of this fight, and it would be pointless to defeat Nihlus if the entire town was destroyed by the heartless…

"Fine, but you'd better not die! I can't win back that bandanna if you're dead!" With that said Monica turned around and ran toward where the sounds of fighting were the loudest…which also happened to be where the most darksides were towering! In other words, she was heading into the very center of the town.

"Alright "heroes of the light", show me what you can do!" Nihlus challenged as the swarm of blades he had summoned earlier hovered above him. Now that they were so close, the keyblade masters could see that small yellow eyes were on the hilts of each blade. They weren't truly creations of Nihlus's powers, they were another new kind of heartless that he had made! Nihlus spun around in a circle as he was charged by all three of the keyblade masters, his scythe forming a metaphorical wheel of death as he did so.

Riku didn't quite posses the acrobatic abilities of Sora and Kairi, he was always more of the "trade blows with them until they drop" kind of guy. As such, he raised his keyblade up to block the scythe and was knocked back by the sheer force of the blow, though he sustained no real damage as a result. Sora and Kairi both lunged at Nihlus with their keyblades, forcing him to twist and jump back in order to avoid being impaled. He did a back flip to get away from the two keyblade masters, his bladed tail lashing out at Kairi as he did so.

The princes of heart managed to deflect the tail with a downward movement with her own, still unnamed, keyblade and then continued to relentlessly attack Nihlus alongside Sora. The champion of darkness's entire fighting style seemed to have changed. He was no longer using his tendril based attacks, at least not yet. Also, Nihlus was a lot less aggressive this time around, yet he had still not lost the slightest bit of lethality. Either he was keeping his emotions in check just enough to not allow them to dominate him, or the anger and rage that had been his primary source of power had simply been covered and suppressed by another, less blatantly destructive, emotion. Regardless of how hard they tried, they couldn't seem to get through Nihlus's defense. The blows he couldn't block with his scythe were simply blocked by a small shield that he would suddenly form wherever and whenever he needed it.

Suddenly, Riku jumped up from behind Nihlus, his keyblade raised in a strike. The champion of darkness spun around just in time to block Riku's blow with his scythe. Riku grunted and tried to twist it out of Nihlus's grip, but his enemy had predicted such a move. Nihlus twisted towards Riku, elbowing him in the back and causing him to stumble forward into Sora and Kairi, breaking up their attack. "Riku, you're hurt!" Sora cried out when he saw a patch of blood on Riku's back. One curaga spell later and Riku was fine.

Nihlus reabsorbed the small blade hanging from his elbow that he had used to wound Riku. "…Playtime's over…" Nihlus began to grow twin blades out of his arms, augmenting his claws in terms of cutting ability. Also, his now-infamous tentacles began to form out of his back once more, they still had the thorn-like blades lining their lengths.

"Careful, he's not fooling around anymore…" Riku warned as he cautiously eyed Nihlus, not that the person before them was truly Nihlus now…

Sora and Kairi both nodded as "Nihlus" shook his head. He raised his right hand up towards the swarm of sword-shaped heartless that had been hovering above the battle below at Nihlus's command. They instantly swooped down to ground level and began to fly around in a circle around the four combatants. "You will not survive this…" Sora and Riku's eyes widened as they realized what he intended to do.

"Kairi, help us!" Sora yelled as he and Riku pooled their magical energy to form a reflega shield big enough to protect all three of them. The princess of heart nodded as she began to add her own energy to Sora and Riku's. She was not one second too early, as the swarm of heartless all threw themselves toward the shield, relentlessly trying to break it down. There were so many in such close proximity that they formed a globe of darkness around the three keyblade masters as they attempted to batter down the shield. Sora, Riku, and Kairi all felt the strain of trying to maintain the shield, but they were comforted by the fact that they could feel that it was well within their limits to do so. That was, until Nihlus began to intercede.

He seemingly appeared out of nowhere in the globe of darkness, and slammed his claws and tentacles against the shield. The three keyblade master all let out either grunts or gasps at the sudden drain of power as Nihlus slammed them against the sword-heartless. Cracks began to materialize as they slowly lost the ability to maintain the shield. Nihlus's regenerative capabilities completely rendered the deflective power of the shield null. Every time he was injured by it, the damage done was instantly healed by the darkness that literally flowed through him.

And suddenly, the shield shattered, the keyblade masters couldn't support it any longer. The darkness seemed to close around them as soon as they lost their protections…

* * *

_'Where…where am I?'_ Sora thought as he looked at his surroundings. He felt as though he were floating. The occasional flicker of movement could mean only one thing. "Wait, the shield broke and then…' Sora's eyes widened with horror. He tried to move, to call out Kairi and Riku's names, but found that he couldn't. Despite his desperation, he simply couldn't will any of his limbs, or even his mouth to move. They felt as heavy as lead, not to mention utterly exhausted. A silhouette of Nihlus in his armored form, complete with the tail, appeared off in the relative distance. It began to move toward Sora, hand outstretched towards the keyblade master's chest.

_'Maybe…its better this way…he only wants my heart…not Riku or Kairi's…'_ Sora could feel himself going. He just wanted to go to sleep, to not have to worry anymore. The inky blackness of the darkness seemed to be incredibly inviting instead of terrifying right now.

_'And how will they react to losing you?'_ Sora's eyes widened the voice sounded…familiar. Suddenly, of all things, another silhouette of Nihlus appeared. It was just him in his "normal" form, and he floated next to Sora. '_If you just give up, how will they react? Riku's a tough guy, sure, he might recover, but how will Kairi react?'_

Sora suddenly felt his wave of tiredness leaving him. He couldn't believe that he had been about to give up. "Kai…ri…"

_'Yes, that's right, Kairi, you know, the girl you're head over heels in love with,'_ Normally, Sora probably would have blushed at that statement. It was one thing to know and acknowledge that he was in love with Kairi, it was a completely different matter altogether to have someone actually say it, especially Nihlus! But, that was one thing that was bothering him, this silhouette wasn't acting like Nihlus at all…or at least not the Nihlus he knew. Perhaps this was what Nihlus was like before he embraced darkness in an attempt to save Aqua and Ven, or maybe it was just something else, an illusion perhaps? _'She'll die of a broken heart if you die here…you've already got your nobody running about, what do you think's going to happen if your heart gets ripped out a second time?'_

Now Sora was truly trying to move, to get away from the armored silhouette that seemed to represent his inevitable demise. He could move his fingers and even his arm a little, but it just wasn't enough. "I…I can't do it…I can't move…" Sora said almost pleadingly. Not even he was sure if he was addressing the "friendly" silhouette or if he was just talking to himself. At least he was able to talk now!

_'Damn, that wasn't enough… ,'_ The silhouette next to Sora looked at the approaching armored reaper, so to speak, and then seemed to come to a conclusion of some kind. '_Alright Sora, I'm taking a leap of faith here…there's a part of you that doesn't want to fight me, you really do have a compassion problem, you know that?'_ Sora rolled his eyes, as far as he was concerned, that "compassion problem" was what made him a hero…especially in Kairi's eyes! (Go figure)_ 'So, I'm going to tell you a little secret that should fix that…'_ The silhouette seemed to lean down so that it could whisper into Sora's ear. A few seconds later, it returned back to its previous position while Sora wore a shocked expression on his face.

"W-what?!" The silhouette nodded in reply.

_'You heard me…that's the agreement me and Sulhin came to just before I defeated you in the ruin…that's why I'm here now…'_ Sora looked dumbstruck for several seconds before he snapped out of it and nodded with smile at "Nihlus".

"Thanks…you know, Kairi was right about you…" The Nihlus silhouette tilted its head sideways in confusion. "You really are a good guy…" The silhouette threw its head back and began to laugh a humorless laugh.

_'Do I look like a "good guy" to you? Have I been acting like a "good guy" lately?'_ The silhouette turned to face the still approaching armored version of it. It began to float towards it armored counter part before it suddenly turned around to face Sora one last time. _'You're a true hero…you know that? I'm…glad…glad that I didn't make the mistake of just ripping your heart out on Hollow Bastion…thank you…_' The silhouette suddenly merged with the armored reaper as it approached. It hovered over Sora, its advance had stopped, for it had reached its target…

_'I unleashed the grim reaper within me…now you must do the same, or will you forsake those you love?'_ The armored version of Nihlus slowly reached down into Sora's chest and gripped his heart. _'Your answer…will you give in and let the darkness win? Will you simply leave all that you have behind because you refuse to reach your full potential?_' It began to pull Sora's heart out.

"NO!" And eruption of light from Sora's heart as he shouted his answer seemed to vaporize everything around him.

* * *

Light seemed to erupt forward from Sora's heart, even as Nihlus began to pull it out in the real world. The dark champion felt his hand burn as he was literally thrown backwards onto the ground, only to use his tentacles the throw himself into the air, replacing them with wings as soon as he was airborne. The heartless that had been swarming Sora, Kairi, and Riku were all completely and utterly consumed and destroyed by the explosion of light. Nihlus held his hand up to his face; it was partially coated with light that seemed to be interfering with his regeneration. '_Hm, I had a feeling that would get you to really try to fight me, Sora…'_ Although his helmet made it impossible to see it, a smile had formed on Nihlus's lips. His scythe began to materialize into his hands, despite the fact that one of them was more or less crippled due to the light that had infected it. _'Now, let's see if you can surpass me…'_ As the light that had concealed Sora, Kairi, and Riku faded away Nihlus could see an armored figure in it, holding a keyblade in each hand, with two more floating behind it.

_'The avatar of light…I thought it would be bigger…'_

* * *

Sora couldn't help but look down in wonder at what the light had done. It was some kind of super drive form, that much Sora could sense…mainly because he felt both Riku and Kairi's presences in his mind. _'Sora, what's going on?'_ Kairi mentally asked. '_Those heartless were about to kill us and then…'_

'_Who cares? We can beat him now!'_ Riku exclaimed. Nihlus had hurt his pride before, and now he was going to pay…

Sora mentally nodded in agreement with Riku. After that mental…whatever it was, he now knew that he HAD to defeat Nihlus…for both their sakes. 'All right, we're in this together, let's do it!'

'_Right!'_ Riku and Kairi said at the same time as the light cleared away, revealing the appearance of the "avatar of light". It was clad in white metal armor, and had a medieval styled helmet that had glowing blue eyes in its sockets. The hands weren't clawed, unlike Nihlus's and it had four keyblade: two incarnations of the ultima in each hand and both Riku and Kairi's keyblades floated behind it. The avatar floated on its own accord, though the keyblades behind it did vaguely resemble wings.

It soared towards Nihlus, who prepared to block its attack with his scythe. Their weapons clashed as the two physical representations of both elemental realms deadlocked before pushing against each other and breaking apart. Nihlus suddenly sped upwards, going high and higher into the sky. _'Oh no you don't…'_ Riku mentally muttered as he, Sora and Kairi directed their jointly controlled drive form upwards. Somehow, they managed to catch up with Nihlus and began to exchange blows with him in midair as they both soared higher and higher. The avatar of light managed to turn Nihlus's scythe aside by applying pressure on his wounded hand, causing him to recoil in pain.

The light simply wouldn't allow it to regenerate! Nihlus jerked away as both of the ultima keyblades nearly slashed his arms off in a dual upward cut. Unfortunately, one of them cut him from his chest all the way up to his helmet, causing half of it to outright shatter. Surprisingly, as the avatar of light put some distance between both of them, Nihlus began laughing almost joyfully, even as black blood began to ooze out. His helmet began to reform, though the wound on his chest was only healing slowly.

_'Huh, what's he laughing about?!'_ Riku asked flabbergasted.

_'…I'll explain later…'_ Sora replied as he turned his attention away from Nihlus for a brief instant.

'_Wha-, he…he's using his own blood as a weapon?!'_ Kairi's abrupt exclamation snapped the other two keyblade masters back into the real world. The blood that had emerged from Nihlus's wound had crept along his unwounded arm and hand, forming what appeared to be a large cannon.

_'Shit, we gotta' move!'_ Riku's tone was urgent, for the cannon that had replaced Nihlus's arm was not only pointed at them, but it seemed to be done charging. The avatar of light spun around and began to speed away from Nihlus just it in time to stay ahead of the massive globe of dark energy that Nihlus had fired at it. As soon as enough distance was between the avatar and the globe, the avatar suddenly did an upwards turn, letting the globe fly harmlessly underneath it. Suddenly, the keyblades seemed to act of their own accord.

They each took up positions behind the avatar and seemed to e charging for some kind of blast._ 'Huh, what's going on?'_ Sora mentally asked aloud. Granted, the keyblade had acted of its own accord before, but it rarely ever did so. That only added to Sora's feeling of unease, whenever it did act of its own accord, the results never seemed to be very good, the time when it abandoned him for Riku stuck out particularly well in his mind. He still had yet to really forgive it for that…

Suddenly, all four keyblades unleashed a massive blast of light towards Nihlus. The dark champion fired another one of the cannon's massive shots at it, but the darkness did little more than stall the wave of light. A sound that sounded like a cross between a gasp and a scream escaped Nihlus's lips as he was enveloped by the light. '_The keyblades!'_ Kairi exclaimed, turning Riku and Sora's attention to their weapons. The two began to panic, the blast of light must have been too much for the keyblades, even if they were doing it of their own accord. Cracks began to materialize on them as they seemed about to shatter into pieces.

The avatar seemed to begin to fade away as it sank down to the ground at a relatively fast pace. All four keyblades abruptly shattered into pieces before outright fading away into light when the avatar faded away, leaving a trio of exhausted keyblade masters in its wake. The apparent destruction of their keyblades, however, was not what attracted the keyblade masters' attention. Nihlus lay on the ground, his helmet and a tremendous portion of his armor had been destroyed. He was lying in a large pool of black blood, and was covered in what appeared to be the same kind of light that had prevented him from regenerating his hand wound before.

"Heh…I…I did not think…that success would be…so painful…" he said, almost to himself in a quiet tone. The black blood beneath him tried to form what appeared to be a hand before it seemed to begin to fade away.

"Sora, the heartless are-!" Terra suddenly appeared, apparently running from the center of town to deliver some kind of important news. When he saw Nihlus, he stopped dead in his tracks with wide eyes.

"I can't…die yet…Aqua…Ven…tell Aqua that I'm so-ugh!" Nihlus suddenly began to convulse and spasm violently as he seemed to be fading away into darkness like the members of organization thirteen did whenever they died. The blood beneath him also seemed to be convulsing as if it too were alive.

"Quickly, if you want to save him, they must be reunited!" Terra yelled as he sprinted toward Nihlus, using his keyblade to support himself as he did so. Unfortunately, by the time he reached Nihlus, the former champion of darkness's eyes, which were now a plain and simple brown, had glaze over. The "blood" beneath him was in actuality, his bonded partner, only so heavily wounded that it had already lost its mental capacity to the point where all it could do was try to reunite with Nihlus and save both of them. What was once both Shadow and Sulhin's attempts were futile, the light simply wouldn't allow it in…

Before Terra could do anything, Shadow/Sulhin, for lack of better words, seemed to explode outward, sending him flying backward. If he hadn't been sailing through the air, he would have noticed that a large portion of the remnant of Sulhin/Shadow had entered into his keyblade. The rest of the black blood and Nihlus simply faded away, back to the darkness that they had called home when they became bonded…

"I-is Nihlus…?" Sora seemed horrified and appalled as he sank his knees. He already knew the answer to his question…for all intents and purposes, Nihlus was dead…

* * *

And there you have it! I guess what happened to Nihlus is only really sad if you got attacrched to him. Anyway, I hope you found this chapter enjoyable, I added all that fluff to counteract the "emoness" of the whole thing. Anyway, please, please tell me what you think about it in your reviews, as you may have guessed, this chapter is one of the most important ones in the entire story…

Oh, and for those of you who are wondering, the song Nihlus was listening to is called "Gentle Hands". It's from that .hack thing I mentioned being a fan of earlier. The song's not "emo", in fact I didn't know the lyrics until I looked them up. If you want, you can always look it up on youtube or soemthing! Just type in ".hack gentle hands lyrics" and that should do it!

Next Chapter: "Keyblade Master Xehanort"

(Now you'll get to know how he gets back and what his role in this whole mess is!)


	24. Chapter 23: Keyblade Master Xehanort

Notes: Okay guys, as I'm writing this, I kinda have a project I have to do, so you'd better be praying that I pass on it! Anyway, now for a bit of good news. This is the chapter that covers the events just before the Birth by Sleep trailer finally takes place; I just took so long because I wanted you to fully understand the characters and what's going through their heads as they fight…

Disclaimer: I don't feel like getting someone else to do it right know, so I'll just do it myself. I don't own Kingdom Hearts, but I do own my OCs and the places I come up with…oh, and I don't own Alter A.I.L.A, which is the game that Monica's parents in here came from.

* * *

_'Is he…the new champion?'_

_'No…he cannot be…he has a keyblade…we'll die!'_

_'I don't want to die…'_

'_That keyblade is scary…it ate so many of us...'_

_'Then we won't help him!'_

Sora awoke with a start, his limbs shooting out in every direction as he did so. It had been three days since Nihlus's death, and every time he went to sleep, he could hear the heartless. No one was able to do much about it; it was clearly a side effect of Nihlus unintentionally linking him to the darkness when he nearly took Sora's heart the first time. Most of the heartless' exchanges were nonsensical, but it was clear that they were in disarray since they had lost Nihlus. In short, they weren't taking it very well.

"Sora, are you alright?" The brunette keyblade master turned over in his bed to see Kairi standing in the doorway to his room with a concerned expression on her face.

"Uh, yeah…," Sora smiled weakly in an attempt to comfort her, but he knew she wouldn't be fooled by his charade. Kairi just knew him too well to fall for it…besides, Sora was terrible at lying!

"It wasn't your fault, Sora…," Kairi sat on the edge of the bed as Sora sat up, taking a seat beside her. He was dressed in a pair of stripped pajamas.

"I know…it's just…Nihlus considered me to be one of his friends…" While Sora hadn't really gotten close enough to Nihlus to consider him a friend, the fact that the relatively anti-social champion of darkness had only instilled a feeling of guilt in Sora. One of Nihlus's positive traits was his devotion to those close to him. He was willing to go to any lengths to protect them, and in Sora's case, he had orchestrated his own death while still fulfilling his duties as the champion of darkness.

That was what he had explained to Sora in their mental conversation when Nihlus was about to tear his heart out. He and Sulhin had come to the agreement that neither they nor the heartless would bother the keyblade masters ever again if Nihlus was defeated. Nihlus had just left out the odds of him dying should he lose his battle with the keyblade masters…

Kairi leaned against Sora, putting her head on his shoulder as she did so. "Sora, Nihlus made his choice…there wasn't anything that you could have done."

"Yeah…I guess…," It was almost unreal for Kairi, Sora, who could remain optimistic and upbeat in practically any situation, was practically inconsolable. He was, as Monica put it "acting even more emo than Nihlus!".

"Well, today we're going back home…unless you can summon your keyblade?" Sora sighed and extended his hand in the same motion that he almost always did whenever he meant to summon his weapon. He felt the familiar sensation and then…nothing. Ever since their keyblades had been shattered, Sora, Kairi and Riku hadn't been able to summon them. They were, for now, completely normal teenagers…if you discounted their sword fighting and magical abilities!

"Nope…I guess you're right, things'll finally start to slow down!" another weak smile spread across Sora's, but this one seemed real. "Thanks Kairi," She returned his smile as they began to lean in for a kiss…something which neither of them had shared in too long a time…

A loud and resounding metallic clang startled the two lovers, causing them to turn their attention to the person standing in the doorway. It was Aqua, who was dressed in her chaser armor, minus the helmet, which she held in the crook of her arm. From the looks of things, she had just slammed the flat of her keyblade against the metal of her armor. "If you two would stop making out for a second, then maybe you'd remember that Nihlus's funeral is about to begin…or do you consider your love fest to be more important than attending it?" Aqua made not even the slightest attempt to hide the hostility in her voice.

She hadn't been taking Nihlus's death well at all. At first, she had stayed in her room on the gummi ship almost all day, and when she finally came out, she only ever wore her chaser armor. Now she was shooting Sora and Kairi borderline murderous looks, the fact hat neither of them could summon their keyblades did little to comfort either of them. The only way they could fight was to fire off spells, and those were no substitutes for the keyblades! Besides, magic was Aqua's specialty….

"Well, are you just going to sit there looking stupid, or are you coming?!" Aqua's eyes, despite being as blue as her hair, were fire filled as she angrily took a hostile step towards Sora and Kairi, who immediately began to get up off the bed.

A few minutes later, Sora was dressed in his usual outfit, the clothes the three good fairies had given him, and the trio was exiting the building that the townspeople had allowed Sora and co. to spend the night in since hiking back and forth between the gummi ship and the town wasn't exactly efficient. Besides, while the heartless that Nihlus had brought with him had all returned to the realm of darkness, the "lost ones", AKA the rogue heartless with light in them, were still lurking outside the town's walls.

"Oh…hey guys…," Ven greeted as he leaned against the wall just beside the door to the building. "Aqua didn't try to set you on fire, did she?" Sora and Kairi shook their heads while Aqua walked right past Ven, muttering something along the line of "Wish I did…" Ven too hadn't been taking the death of his friend very well either, though he handled it differently than Aqua. He acted emotionally detached, melancholy, and he seemed to have lost his playful sense of humor. If it wasn't for the fact that he wore an outfit similar to Terra's unarmored clothing with Roxas's jacket put over it and that Roxas had become more cheerful and less "emo" since blatantly confessing his feeling to Namine, the two would have been impossible to tell apart.

Still, Sora and Kairi had to give him credit. The fact that Ven had managed to keep himself together after both losing Nihlus and whatever had gotten him so upset right after Nihlus had fled into the ruin was more than a subtle suggestion that he was a hell of a lot stronger than he tended to present himself under normal circumstances.

"So, how's rebuilding stuff coming?" Sora asked as the four of them walked towards the center of town, where they had planned on holding Nihlus's memorial service. In the three days that had passed since Nihlus died, the townspeople had been busily trying to repair the damage the heartless had inflicted upon their homes. According to Terra, who'd been acting somewhat strangely lately, the heartless had gone berserk around the time Nihlus got hit by the immense blast of light that the keyblades had used to separate him and Sulhin. It wasn't until Nihlus actually died that they warped back into the dark lands.

"Well enough…," Ven answered as he trudged along. "They finally cleared Nihlus of killing Lloyd, apparently one of the members of the town guard saw it was one of the lost ones that ripped out his heart, but wasn't able to tell anyone until it was too late,"

"Oh, well…that's good…," Sora sighed. Ven may not have inwardly wanted to beat the hell out of Sora, Kairi, and Riku, but he was nearly impossible to have a conversation with now!

"Do we really have to do this?" Aqua asked, for once expressing an emotion other than anger. Her free hand was clenched into a fist as she asked her question. Aqua had only just recently been able to talk about Nihlus herself, when other people, with the only notable exception being Ven, brought him up; she tended to react with overwhelming and excessive force…much like Nihlus tended to do when he himself was upset. Overall, she seemed to be even more affected by his death than Ven.

"Nihlus deserves this much, doesn't he?" Sora asked rhetorically as they trudged along, he could plainly see Terra amongst all the other people that had come. The chaser was taller than anyone else there! The keyblade master heard Aqua mutter under her breath in a hostile manner, but his attention was quickly diverted to another voice.

'_Ssshut up? Or what? Thisss light already burns and blindsss me…ssso very painful…,'_

The voice sounded familiar, yet it was weak and barely audible. It was coming from Terra's general direction.

'_Chaser…do you know…what going crazy feelsss like? It'sss very…loopy…ssso much light in your keyblade…if I move, I burn. If I don't move, I burn…why do you humansss love light ssso much?'_ Terra visibly flinched and then clinched his fists, and the whisper suddenly was silenced. Making a mental note to ask Terra if he was alright later, Sora continued to walk towards where Nihlus's memorial service was being held.

"Alright…I'll do this…," Aqua murmured to herself as she nervously fiddled with her fingers. "…but only because it's you…Nihlus…I always hated funerals but…I'll come to yours…,"

Apparently, Roxas was right when he said that Aqua and Nihlus cared for each other more than they let most people know with their near constant fights, which were frequently both verbal and physical…

The entire group of heroes had gathered for a memorial service to Nihlus. Despite Aqua's words and opinion on the matter, they couldn't truly give Nihlus a funeral since his body had faded into the darkness that he had been bound to in life. It wasn't just the keyblade wielders and Monica either; some of the townspeople had turned up as well. Apparently, they still remembered the lonely child that Nihlus had been before he met Aqua and Ven…there was no denying one simple fact about Nihlus: despite all of the flaws in his character, he was never a bad person.

They were just about to start the actual service when an unexpected sound rang out across the plaza: clapping. All heads turned to the roof top that the sound seemed to originate from. Sora, Kairi and Riku all gasped when they saw who was doing the clapping. It was a bald old man with skin that seemed to be tanned into an almost brown complexion. He had golden eyes and was dressed in a manner that was identical to the way Xehanort's heartless had been dressed, not to mention a small goatee.

To put it simply, he looked like an old version of Xehanort's heartless!

"Well, what a nice service you have here!" he called out after he had finished his round of sardonic clapping. "The fact that you're the ones who killed him in the first place makes it all the more…touching…" the old man's eyes, which were golden, seemed to glow in a manner not unlike the way Nihlus's did whenever he happened to be experiencing an above average amount of emotion.

"Y-you!" Riku stuttered as he nearly jumped out of his skin upon seeing the heartless that had once possessed him. "What are you?! You're not Xehanort, you can't be!"

"Why Riku, I'm shocked and appalled!" Xehanort pressed his right hand over his heart and etched a hurt expression across his face. Apparently, he had developed a sense of humor, even if it was a mocking one. "I happen to have great taste in the kinds of people I posses! What does it say about me if you're not smart enough to recognize the person who nearly had you kill your own best friend? Besides, I thought that you would be a little more concerned over how I'm back and how I got the title "Keyblade Master Xehanort"!"

"WHAT?!" the entire group yelled in surprise, their individual tones saying a great deal about how they currently, felt towards Xehanort. Aqua and Ven, for example, sounded less surprised and more angry with him. As far as they were concerned, he was an enemy of Sora, Riku, and Kairi's who thought it would be funny to crash the memorial service for their deceased life-long friend!

"Oh yes, my keyblade is right here…," with an unpleasant smirk, Xehanort outstretched his hand in a similar manner to the way any of the keyblade wielders did whenever they wanted to summon their weapons. In his hand materialized a keyblade that was blatantly aligned with darkness. It was a grayish blackish color and its blade was shaped in a serrated way. It looked like a fire had been corrupted by darkness, frozen in time, and then used to make a keyblade. "Magnificent, isn't it?"

"H-how did you get that?!" Roxas demanded as he, Namine, Aqua, Ven, and Monica all drew and readied their respective weapons. Terra seemed shocked by the sight of the keyblade, he just stood there, mouth agape, and stared with a look of horror in his eyes.

"Oh? So Terra didn't tell you, did he?" Xehanort seemed delighted by the looks that everyone shot the chaser. "Well, I suppose he can't be blamed…these things do tend to happen when you're bound by trivial things such as honor and oaths," The aged heartless shrugged with his keyblade in his hand. "It's no real secret; you remember that artificial keyblade that Riku used when he and I were…partners?" The silver haired keyblade master scowled and shot Xehanort a look of pure hatred. If his keyblade hadn't destroyed itself when it killed Nihlus, he would have been on top of this glorified shadow-heartless in a heartbeat...bad joke fully intended.

"It was made from the hearts of the seven princesses…tell me, why do you think I didn't bring any heartless with me for this little trip?" Realization dawned upon the group of heroes.

"You used your own heartless to make that over sized key of yours?!" Monica exclaimed in disbelief. Xehanort actually seemed a bit annoyed with the blond haired girl.

"Not quite, you see, the heartless haven't been taking Nihlus's demise very well, and when I used…a number of them to make this keyblade they became downright hostile…," Suddenly, something clicked in Sora's head. The heartless had been talking about Xehanort in his dreams! While it was comforting to know that he wouldn't have to put up with all the other heartless, there was one thing that terrified Sora beyond all reason right now. Xehanort had a keyblade and he didn't. Without his weapon, Sora was almost powerless, and even if Xehanort had been reduced to an old man through whatever method he had used to resurrect himself. "You shouldn't be so surprised, tell me, did you never stop to ask yourselves how chasers and their counterparts were able to get so many of what was supposed to be a legendary and unique weapon? They made them with pieces of their own hearts…," All eyes turned to Terra, who looked downright murderous at Xehanort. Still, he didn't try to deny the heartless's words, instead, he simply nodded.

"Yes, you see, Aqua and Ven here are only able to use theirs because of the tiniest bit of "life", if you can even consider those things alive, in their keyblades hadn't died out even though they had been collecting dust for several centuries. Don't get any ideas about restoring those keyblades of yours…," Xehanort's previously mocking and even light hearted tone changed to a cold and ruthless sounding one the second he said this. "The "artificial" keyblades are inferior to the chosen "real" ones…and you run the risk of losing some of your emotions...," Xehanort's little speech was both irritating and informative at the same time…and it also showed that his cruel streak had only grown.

"Wait, how come you're still alive and an old man?" Sora may not have been a great military genius, but there were only so many reasons as to why Xehanort would bother making this little visit…and asking to borrow some sugar for a tea party wasn't very high on the list. In Sora's mind, the best thing to do was stall him as long as possible…and maybe even get some answers out of the heartless.

Xehanort's face twisted into what was, without doubt, the cruelest and unpleasant cross between a smile and a smirk that had ever been seen in the last few decades. "Oh, now THAT is an interesting story, but let me start out by saying that I owe it all to you…," The heartless took in his enemies' shocked, furious, and appalled expressions with glee, though there was a measure of concern in the back of his head about Roxas and Namine. They were Sora and Kairi's nobodies, it was only logical that their fighting abilities were equal. Even with the immense power that his keyblade gave him, taking them on without a plan of some sort wouldn't exactly do wonders for his already deteriorated body.

"You see, when Nihlus and…his bonded partner died, they both faded into darkness…well, half of his bonded partner anyway…," For one, brief, second Xehanot's gaze flickered towards Terra. "I'm not quite sure what happened to the Sulhin aspect of it, but the Shadow aspect faded into the realm of darkness and bonded to me…what was left of him by that point was nothing more than some essence and bare instincts, everything else had been burned away by the light, including Shadow's mind. You see, darkness is nearly impossible to destroy that way. Whenever you kill something made of it, just the tiniest bit of darkness makes its way back to its own realm. What was left of the Shadow aspect of Nihlus's partner needed an above average amount of darkness in order to recover, so, it bonded itself to my own remains…unfortunately, while I am in full control since its mind was practically destroyed by the light, I've been reduced to an old man because there was just too little of both me and it to fully restore my body."

Xehanort's explanation also revealed one other piece of information: he couldn't use Shadow's darkness manipulation abilities like Nihlus had. After all, if what was left of Shadow hadn't even been able to fully restore Xehanort's body, how could it possibly do even half of the stuff it had done when it was bonded with Nihlus? Unfortunately, Xehanort's power level all depended on just how many hearts he'd put into his keyblade. It had only taken six to make one that could challenge Sora's "real" one…granted, that was a long time ago and Xehanort had even less practice with swords than Monica, but he wasn't a fool…he wouldn't have put his life on the line like this unless he was confident in his keyblade's power.

"Now, is there anyone else who wants to try to stall me, or shall I just skip to the part where I tell you what I want and then you try to kill me?" The heartless was met with scowls, in fact, Roxas would have jumped up towards the rooftop and tried to kill him then and there if Namine hadn't stopped him. "I'll take that for a "yes". You see, I've learned from my past mistake, I believed that Kingdom Hearts was made up only of darkness, that it belonged to one of the two elements. I was wrong and paid the price. Kingdom Hearts is simply a giant heart, and as such, it is composed of both light and darkness so that it cannot be acquired by either. The light within will destroy anyone from the darkness and the lost heartless within it will do the same to anyone from the light."

Again, Xehanort had given out some more comforting information. From the way he spoke of he rogue heartless, it meant he held no sway over them at all…but if he didn't, and they were supposed to only exist in Kingdom Hearts, then who was making them outside of the heart of all worlds?

"However, thanks to my beloved former master…," Xehanort's tone was spiteful, bitter, and mocking as he spoke of Ansem. While he managed to hide it just beneath skin level, Roxas actually agreed with Xehanort's rather negative views of the now deceased former ruler of Radiant Garden. The man kidnapped him, erased his memories, digitized him in a computer, tried to kill him by forcing him to become one with Sora just so he could have revenge on organization thirteen, and then ordered Riku to kill Namine simply because she was a nobody and he didn't need her anymore.

Sure, the man had apologized and said he was sorry, but did that really make everything okay? Sora and Riku might have forgiven him, but they had had it easy. A few vague memories and temporarily looking like your worst nightmare were nothing compared to being imprisoned, memory wiped, and nearly losing the love of you life!

"…Kingdom Hearts has been heavily damaged. So heavily in fact, that if an exceptionally powerful heartless were to, oh say, try to turn it to the darkness, then it wouldn't be able to do a thing to resist." Xehanort grinned smugly as he saw the startled faces of his enemies. "Yes, that's right. Kingdom Hearts is basically a powered up heart, nothing more. Can you imagine the power the heartless it creates will have?"

"You said that the heartless were refusing to listen to you…," Tera seemed to have recovered from his shock at Xehanort revealing one of the most important secrets that he had been sworn to never tell anyone about. "Why should one made from Kingdom Hearts be any different?" Xehanort looked down at Terra from his place on the roof top with an almost condescending air.

"I'm glad that you asked that, allow me to introduce to you my…apprentice…," Sensing movement coming from behind him, Terra spun around in time to see the few townspeople that had come to attend Nihlus's memorial service scatter as Xehanort's apprentice jumped down from another rooftop where he had previously been hidden. "Recognize that suit? It may look like the one Riku wore, but, as I'm sure you know, it was what the dark keyblade wielders used to wear when they were at war with the chasers." The apprentice just stood there silently, his face, for the form fitting suit left no question as to what gender he was, was completely concealed by some kind of black glass helmet.

"What?! Where did you get one of those helmets?!" to everyone, even Xehanort's visible surprise, it was Monica who was asking

"It's part of his armor, I simply-,"

"Don't lie!" Monica aimed her rifle straight at Xehanort's head. "I've know what that thing is. It stops whoever's wearing it from doing anything other than reacting to threats and taking orders!" Now it was Xehanort's turn to be surprised.

"What?! How did you know that? I thought that you knew nothing of how magic works!"

Monica glared up at the keyblade wielding heartless in response. "Stop lying! Magic doesn't have anything to do with it, that helmet looks just like the one Black wore when…," Monica's eyes abruptly widened when she realized how perilously close she had come to letting something from her past slip out.

Xehanort frowned as he looked down on the rifle wielding blonde. "I don't know what or who you're talking about, I only have access to Shadow, not Sulhin's memories, but I can tell you this truthfully. I simply applied a spell on that helmet when I found him blindly wondering around." Abruptly, the heartless seemed to remember something incredibly important, at least to him. "Oh, I almost forgot! Ven, there's something you should know about your uncle's death…you know, Ale?" The Roxas look alike visibly stiffened at the mention of his uncle. Apparently, he had come to the conclusion that Ale had died…which made sense considering the man's absence. It certainty explained why Ven had been so upset earlier.

"I don't want to spoil anything, but let's just say that he didn't die easily…you can ask Sora for the details…," Ven's facial expression was one of shock with a hint of betrayal mixed into it.

"…Sora…," Ven said in a low tone as he lowered his head towards the ground. Ven's grip on the Jester's forte' tightened by several magnitudes as well. "Two words for you…HE'S MINE!" The Roxas look alike suddenly jumped towards the rooftop that Xehanort was standing on, a thundara spell was materializing just above the resurrected heartless when a ball of dark energy sailed over the heads of everyone else and crashed into Ven. He let out a startled gasp as the darkness attack flung him right into the building that Xehanort was standing on. Ven landed in a crumpled heap, whether he was merely stunned or unconscious was anyone's guess.

All eyes turned to see Xehanort's apprentice seemingly teleporting through some kind of magic spell so that he materialized right next to Xehanort with a keyblade in his grip. The apprentice's keyblade was much more reminiscent of Riku's artificial one. It was a dead grey color down the blade, which was slightly uneven, and the pick of the key resembled a red gear that had been cut in half.

"You really should show a bit more restraint with the darkness…," admonished Xehanort as he frowned slightly. "No magic I have will be able to replace your heart if you allow it to drown in darkness." The apprentice nodded as he looked down at Roxas, Aqua, and Namine as they ran towards Ven. "Oh, just take a break, I need to test something…," The heartless's apprentice nodded eagerly as he jumped to the adjacent rooftop and began to head towards another part of town, his specific destination was unknown.

"Sora, Riku, Kairi, Terra, get out of here, we can handle this dried up prune!" Monica called out as she took several steps toward the building that Xehanort was standing on. Sora, Kairi and Terra nodded reluctantly, neither of the inhabitants of the Destiny Islands had access to their keyblades, and Terra had yet to fully recover from being mauled by Sulhin only a few days ago. Riku on the other hand scowled and shook his head in an aggressive manner.

"No, I've never backed down out of a fight before, and I sure as hell aren't about to now!" Before anyone could do anything to stop him, Riku impetuously ran forward towards Xehanort, a dark aura attack forming on his right fist. He was about to run past Monica when she quickly spun around and blocked Riku with her rifle, putting them in a position where their faces were too close for comfort for the silver haired keyblade master.

"Hold it, Riky. I told you to get out of here, okay?" Even though a cocky grin was tugging on Monica's lips, she was able to keep her tone serious enough to not piss off Riku. Even though he was visibly nervous and surprised at his and Monica's abrupt closeness, it would only take a hint of a challenge from her to snap him out of it and try to shove her aside…emphasis on the word "try". That was just who Riku was! "I can't win back my bandanna if you die, so would you kindly do like I asked, or do I have to beat you unconscious?" Monica leaned forward so that their faces were literally three inches apart and then shoved Riku backwards, which was easily done due to his surprise and discomfort. "What? Why are you looking at me like that?" Riku shook himself out of his daze and mentally cursed his hormones for the millionth time in the past three days. Monica took being practical to new heights; she was too busy seeing how something would help her to even realize it was embarrassing!

The best example of this was that fateful day on which she tried to win Riku's pants off of him because she needed another pair and Riku's would fit her…the idea that Riku would be wondering around in his boxers if she had won hadn't crossed her mind even for a second.

"Say, you're not worried about me, are you?" Monica's expression was both smug and playful. "Aw, Riku, I'm touched, but you really shouldn't be!" Monica winked and gave him a thumbs up sign. "I'm a hellcat both in a fight and out!" Riku grunted and lowered his head slightly to hide his blush when a rather perverse interpretation of Monica's words popped into his mind….

'_DAMN YOU HOROMONES!!'_

Xehanort began clapping in his sardonic manner to regain the attention he once held only a few seconds ago. "Aw, how very touching, but if you would get past your little love fest then-," The heartless keyblade master was abruptly cut off when a rather red faced Monica spun around with her rifle aimed right in between his eyes.

"L-L-LOVE FEST?!" she exclaimed in a furious manner that did little to hide her embarresment. Monica didn't even notice that Riku was literally being dragged away by Sora and Terra, he too was so shocked and appalled at the idea that he simply stood there in surprise. "You think I like that HIM?! He's stuck up, cocky, and-!"

"In other words, he's just like you!" Xehanort grinned in what he must have considered to be a joking manner. Apparently, more of Shadow's personality had been carried over to him than the heartless was willing to admit…

"SHUT THE HELL UP!" Monica's face was nearly beat red as she aimed down her energy rifle and pulled the trigger. With a flick of his wrist, Xehanort deflected the shot, only to be assailed by several more one after the other. Monica still kept up a relentless series of shots, not willing to give Xehanort even a second of respite. While none of her shots got through, Xehanort was too busy trying to deflect them that he didn't notice that Roxas was right behind him with both keyblades pointed towards him.

"Hey, you might want to look behind you…," the heartless seemed to freeze for an instant and spun around in time to see Roxas lunge at him and to make a semi successful attempt to parry the two keyblades. Xehanort did manage to force the blades away from his heart, where Roxas had aimed them, but the he wasn't able to stop Roxas's attack from landing. Both keyblades entered his stomach, and a blast of light from Namine, who had been right behind Roxas as he climbed up the building, knocked Xehanort from his perch.

The heartless keyblade master landed with an audible groan. While the damage from the attack was overall only moderate, it was not something he could just shake off. You see, that was another reason why he was so reluctant to just engage Roxas and Namine without a plan. Xehanort had inherited Shadow's resistance to "normal" weapons and his vulnerability to keyblades. He could handle artificial ones easily enough, but being hit with the "real" ones was a sure-fire way to be erased from existence…for good, this time. With a scowl set on his face, Xehanort regained his footing in an instant and swung upwards with his keyblade, knocking Roxas into the air when the nobody tried to bring his keyblades down upon him.

Sora's nobody simply back flipped in midair and landed on the ground with both oathkeeper and oblivion ready, though he didn't charge the heartless keyblade master like he had expected. Xehanort heard a light "thump" and spun around to see both Aqua and Namine readying a firaga spell and a light blast respectively. "Oh bugger…," the heartless keyblade master raised a dark shield just in time to block the magic onslaught from both the girls. With some effort, he mentally pushed his magic against theirs, causing a small explosion to occur after his shield dissipated their attacks. While Namine looked merely disappointed that her and Aqua's attacks hadn't gotten through, the blue haired mage had hatred and sorrow etched into her eyes.

Aqua would have made a very good champion of darkness with her emotions if it was she, not Nihlus, who Shadow had bonded to.

"Alright, I'll admit it, I SLIGHTLY underestimated you…," Xehanort started as he took several quick breathes. "But this doesn't seem to be a fair fight, now does it?" Taking advantage of his opponents' confusion, Xehanort mutter "recall" under his breathe, and almost instantly his apprentice materialized next to him as a result of the spell. "And now, we will-!" the heartless stopped in mid-sentence when he saw the looks of surprise on his foes' faces. He would have dismissed it as them simply being surprised at the sudden reappearance of his apprentice, but then he heard a suckling sound.

Looking sideways, and to his horror, Xehanort saw his apprentice standing next to him, with a sucker stick protruding through the black glass-like helmet. The helm seemed to ooze around the actual stick so that the apprentice was able to stick food and water through it, literally, without having to take it off. The sounds of sucking only served to confirm the conclusion that everyone else had come to, that Xehanort's apprentice's idea of "taking a break" involved eating candy…along with whatever else he had been doing.

A confused, almost moan-like, sound emanated from him as Xehanort literally slapped himself in the face and drew his hand down it. "Drop the candy and help me fight…," An irritated moan came from the apprentice, though he still complied. He removed the sucker from his helmet, causing to warp around it as though it were some kind of liquid, but the lemon flavored sucker was completely clean, minus a fair amount of saliva that was to be expected, when it came out.

"Good, I'll take the two nobodies, and you take care of the two of them," Xehanort ordered as he made a gesture toward Aqua and Monica. The apprentice turned to them and…took out two candy bars that he had been able to hide from plain view. Namine couldn't help but chuckle at Roxas, Aqua, Monica, and Xehanort's own facial expressions. She would have to be sure to draw a picture of them later…

"When I said "take care of them", I didn't mean it literally!" Xehanort was barely able to contain his frustration with his apprentice. "They're the enemy, you're not supposed to give them candy, you're supposed to fight them!" The apprentice let out a groan of disappointment and let the two candy bars that he had been planning to give Aqua and Monica.

Why did he have to fight? Actually, why did anyone have to fight? It really didn't make since, at least not to his simplistic mind. Still, if his master didn't want him to kick back and enjoy life's pleasures (like candy) or try to share said pleasures with anyone else, then he wouldn't.

With a growl, the apprentice launched himself at the two girls; his first strike was aimed at the one with the rifle. She simply lowered her rifle towards him and caught his blow on her bayonet. "Is that the best you can do?" The apprentice growled and jumped back in time to avoid being caught up in an ice spell from the blue-haired girl.

Aqua was only mildly surprised that Xehanort's apprentice had managed to dodge her attack; it would have been obvious to anyone who had some degree of combat experience. Still, while Monica fired several shots at the apprentice, one of which connected with his shoulder and elicited a pained yelp, Aqua rushed behind him and stabbed at him with her keyblade. The apprentice just managed to avoid being impaled on the weapon by twisting around it, though the tip of it did cut into his left arm, drawing a small amount of red blood. At least he wasn't nearly as filled with darkness as he could have been!

Unfortunately, Xehanort's apprentice managed to hit Aqua in the head with his arm as he spun past her. Not giving her a chance to recover, he grabbed her by her blue hair and then kicked her legs out from under her. Aqua's eyes widened as the apprentice raised his keyblade to finish her. Out of pure reflex, Aqua jerked forward and upward at the last second, causing Xehanort's apprentice to cut off a rather large portion of the hair that reached down to her shoulders. (A/N: Now you know why Aqua's hair is short in the trailer, but why it reaches down to her shoulders in her official character drawings)

Taking advantage of the apprentice's moment of surprise, Aqua swung her keyblade against his helm as she stood up. Her weapon connected and the helmet seemed to crack just like the glass it appeared to be when the apprentice was sent flying into a nearby market stall. After an audible, if distorted by the helmet, moan, the apprentice stood up, revealing that his helmet had some powers of regenerating itself as the cracks were gone and the helmet looked completely undamaged. Xehanort's apprentice dizzily raised his keyblade over his head in preparation to charge his two opponents again, only to have it shot right out of his hand by an all too familiar energy blast.

"Give it up tall, dark, and…well…silent…," Monica demanded as she and Aqua both aimed their weapons at him. While it was true that the apprentice would just summon his keyblade back into his hands, but the brief second and a half that it would take would give Aqua and Monica more than enough time to hit him with everything they had…and that was quite a bit! The apprentice just stood there for several seconds and raised his right hand over his head.

"Oh you gotta' be kidding me! Don't tell me he doesn't even know how to surrender!" Monica muttered loud enough for Aqua to hear. She seemed angry instead of frustrated at the apprentice. "That old bastard's going to pay for sticking one of those helmets on someone…even if it's not the same thing that Black got stuck with!" A loud crash and the sound of wood splintering caused both of the two girls to spin away from the apprentice in time to see Xehanort, Roxas, and Namine all flying in opposite directions as a result of an large explosion of magic energy. Xehanort's coat was torn and dusty and he seemed to be physically and mentally worn out, but was otherwise unwounded.

Roxas and Namine, on the other hand, were in worse shape. Roxas had a large, diagonal slash across his chest, from which a stream of blood seemed to flow as he used oathkeeper and oblivion to force himself back onto his feet. Namine too was wounded, her armor/dress was cut in several places and it also had numerous staining s of red scattered interminably through out it. She was having to use her keystaff as a support in order to remain standing.

A sudden explosion at their feet turned Monica and Aqua's attention back to Xehanort's apprentice as they too were sent flying into the air by a particularly powerful dark aura attack from him. The apprentice seemed to be pumped up on adrenaline or something to that effect, as he ran towards Aqua while she struggled to get back onto her feet. He held his keyblade in one hand and a sword-sized piece of wood from the stall that he had been knocked into earlier in the other. Aqua barely brought her keyblade up in time to block his, but she was thrown to the ground again by the force of the strike and the fact that the apprentice had caught her before she had been able to regain her balance.

The blue haired mage could see Monica jumping to her feet and aiming her rifle at Xehanort's apprentice as he struck at her with the piece of wood. Aqua slid along the ground, stunned and dazed from the blow. It probably would have knocked her unconscious if it wasn't for her physical fitness and insurmountable constitution. For some reason, though, Monica froze as she saw this. Her eyes widened as the apprentice ran towards her with his keyblade in one hand and the wood in the other, though it wasn't because she was afraid, it was because she was surprised and almost in shock.

"No…you can't be-!" Monica was abruptly silenced as the wood connected with her head, causing her to crumple down onto the ground in a heap. The apprentice looked down upon both of his fallen enemies; indecision marked his face underneath his helmet. Suddenly, as he felt the darkness he had been using to enhance his physical abilities fade, a sharp pain stuck at his heart, causing him to drop and unsummon his keyblade before sinking to the ground with his hand over his chest.

The two girls were both formidable opponents, if he had used the power of darkness any longer, he probably would have lost his heart by now. Still, the apprentice could do nothing more…not now anyway; almost losing your heart is not something that anyone can just recover from instantly!

"Uh, you two…you have done quite well for your age…and experience," Xehanort grunted to Roxas and Namine as he approached the two nobodies who were both on their hands and knees panting. "But, think of it this way, you'll both enter the afterlife together, at the same time, and the balance between light and dark will be restored soon after that…," Roxas raised his head to shoot the heartless keyblade master a look of hatred and loathing as he opened up a dark door, presumably to leave after he finished off him and Namine.

"Roxas…," Sora's nobody felt a hand on his as he looked sideways to see Namine's face. "I just want you to know, if this really is the end, that I…I enjoyed all of our time together Roxas…," the spiky haired nobody felt a lump in his throat at Namine's sad words. "I know that you already know this Roxas but I…I love you…I'm just…sorry…,"

"Don't be…," Roxas murmured back to Namine. "It's okay, I'm right here…," they both leaned towards each other and shut their eyes. It would be their first, and last, kiss…at least in this plane of existence…

The two nobodies' kiss wasn't the kind of overly sappy and passionate crap you see in romance movies or on TV, or any of that fake stuff for that matter. It was plain, simple, and full of the one thing that mattered to them at the moment: each other's love.

Xehanort raised his keyblade and pointed it towards them. He would kill them instantly and without them even knowing it, they both had their eyes shut and had totally closed out everything in the outside world other than each other. Now who said that he was a monster?

He was just about to obliterate them both when he was suddenly knocked backwards and felt a large cut across his upper chest. Xehanort's eyes widened to see, of all people, Ven standing protectively in front of Roxas and Namine with his keyblade held in front of him it in its typically reversed grip and his eyes filled with anger, hatred, and an almost unparalleled determination. "Get away from my friends, you bastard!" Ven demanded in a murderous tone that would have made even Nihlus's blood run cold if he was still alive…and actually had blood.

Apparently, the nephew of everyone's favorite pyromaniac had more in common with his raven haired friend than he lead others to believe.

Xehanort scowled and raised his keyblade in response, he may have been weakened by his fight with Roxas and Namine, but he wasn't about to let this Roxas look alike get away with wounding him! Unfortunately, he severely underestimated Ven's speed and strength as the boy stuck at him with all the quickness of a lighting bolt, and shoved his keyblade aside.

"Thundara!" Ven yelled as he attacked Xehanort with an uppercut-like strike. His reverse grip style meant that he used the hand guard of his keyblade as often as he did the actual blade. Xehanort was sent flying backwards towards his own dark door, and Ven was just about to strike at him again when his apprentice literally jumped in between them and blocked Ven's blow. The Roxas look alike scowled and turned the weakened apprentice's weapon aside before punching him straight in the helmet. The sheer force and viciousness of Ven's attack knocked the apprentice backwards into the dark door, his helmet already regenerating the cracks that Ven had made in it.

He could see Xehanort using all of his strength to get up, while Roxas and Namine may not have physically wounded him after Roxas surprised him, but the two nobodies had almost completely exhausted the heartless keyblade master. If they only had more stamina, they could have beaten him easily! As it was, though, Ven would get the pleasure of erasing Xehanort from existence, once and for all…

He rushed forward and stabbed Xehanort in the exact same wound that Roxas had made with both oathkeeper and oblivion, returning the hate filled glare that his golden eyes shot him. "You'll regret this, boy…," he snarled as he jumped backwards into the dark door, wounded, but far from defeated. Ven was furious enough to pursue the heartless and his "apprentice", more like his slave and personal attack dog! In fact, the Roxas look alike was about to do just that when a firm hand pressed itself down upon his shoulder, stopping him just as it closed.

Ven angrily spun around to see Terra looking down at him with all the seriousness and sternness that Ven had come to expect of the chaser. "Ven, restrain yourself, if you had jumped in there, you would have either had your heart ripped out by the darkness or by Xehanort himself. Besides, we don't have any time to waste, there's much more at stake than just the honor and memory of your uncle!" Ven shrugged Terra's hand off his shoulder and was about to tell him off using some VERY colorful language, when he suddenly noticed a certain blue haired mage groggily walking towards him and Terra.

"Aqua, your hair!" Ven exclaimed in surprise as he pointed to it. While Aqua wasn't a "girly girl" in the sense that she flipped out over fashion and how she looked at any given moment, her hair was the one thing about her appearance that she truly took pride in. It wasn't everyday that you met a girl with naturally blue hair...much less one that could and would knock you on your ass at the drop of a hat!

"It's fine…," She answered as she cast a healing spell on herself to help recover from being hit by a rather large piece of wood that was in the hands of a darkness powered keyblade warrior. "I'm pretty sure I know a spell to re-grow it…now's not the time to worry about my hair length, Terra's right. There are bigger things at stake!" Ven reluctantly nodded in agreement, if Aqua was setting aside something as important to her as her hair, then he could set aside a personal grudge…for now.

"Alright, Terra, what's the plan?"

The chaser took a breath before he answered. "It's up to us now, Sora, Kairi, and Riku don't have their keyblades, and everyone else," he motioned to Monica, Roxas, and Namine, who were being picked up by the towns doctors and white mages so that they could be healed "Is currently incapacitated and won't recover until it's too late. Xehanort and his apprentice were wounded in that last battle, so they'll need time to recover, which will allow us to reach the one place that has been touched by both light and darkness in tremendous amounts, the one place where Kingdom Hearts would move to recover: the keyblade graveyard…,"

Both Ven and Aqua exchanged worried looks. They could both feel that something terrible was about to happen…but what choice did they have? It was all like some kind of chess game being manipulated by some mastermind in the background…and all the pieces were powerless to stop the fates their manipulator had laid out for them…

_'You can feel it, Terra, can't you? You won't win…you cannot defeat him…you know it'sss true, and when you do admit that you need my power…HAHAHAHAHA!!'_

* * *

Okay, now you have the set up for the Birth by Sleep trailer! I took so long in getting here because I wanted you to fully understand the characters and their motivations for the way they're going to be thinking and acting during my writing of the trailer, for example, you now have a pretty good idea of why Ven's so eager to fight Xehanort and why everyone's favorite heartless does that REALLY bad and cruel thing to him near the end of the trailer.

Anyway, since you guys are most likely coming up with speculations regarding Xehanort's apprentice, I'm going to make a little poll/vote thing for you regarding his identity…kinda

Xehanort's apprentice is

A .Lloyd: he only had his heart ripped out, thus his nobody is currently in existence…

B. Nihlus: you guys all apparently believe that I'm going to resurrect him, so I figured that I may as well include his name in this since he'd most likely be your first guess…

C. A new OC that I've come up with…


	25. Chapter 24: Birth By Sleep pt 1

Notes: Okay, in addition to the Birth by Sleep trailer, this chapter will also show several other things that you may or may not have been wondering about…like what the heck has Xamic (you know, that seemingly invincible nobody that beat the crap outta' Yen Sid?) been up to…anyway, this disclaimer is going to be VERY special…

Rogue: Okay the votes are in and…a lot of you think that I was going to use the apprentice to resurrect Nihlus…well, you'll be finding that out in this chapter, that said, I have two VERY special guests for the disclaimer…the GHOST of Nihlus and Xehanort's apprentice…(or XA for short)

Ghost of Nihlus: Rogue, you bastard!

XA: (walks in, holding a shadow heartless like a teddy bear)

Ghost of Nihlus: You son of a bitch! You basically killed Shadow, turned Ven emo, and made Aqua…well…ARGH! (Shaking in rage) Besides, you even put HIM (points to XA, who waves back) up here with me!

Rogue: Sheesh, dying isn't THAT bad is it?

Ghost of Nihlus: You have no idea…(crosses arms)…if you mess things up and make this end sadly….I'll kill you…somehow…

Rogue: Uh huh, sure…now, with that said, XA, would you kindly do the disclaimer for me?

XA: (holds up a piece of paper that says "Rogue owns only his own characters and places…so no suing!")

* * *

Monica groaned a bit to herself as she slowly regained consciousness, bits and pieces of her memories of both the past and recent events began to surface. As she first opened her eyes, she felt sluggish; a dull pain afflicted her head where the apprentice had hit it. Abruptly she jerked up at the thought of the boy who had knocked her out. His fighting style was chillingly familiar, especially when he was duel-wielding his keyblade and the piece of wood.

"Monica, you're alright!" the blonde turned her head to see Sora and Kairi walking up to the bed on which she was laying. "That's great, the doctor said that it was going to take awhile for Roxas and Namine to recover…," Just from across her, the two nobodies were laying in their beds, both unconscious.

"Sora, Kairi, Xehanort's apprentice is…," Monica looked around the room, noticing for the first time that her leather armor had been removed, leaving her in her shorts and black T-shirt. "Wait, where's Riku?"

Sora and Kairi exchanged looks before Kairi spoke up. "He…hasn't been taking the loss of his keyblade very well…I think he's just mad about not being able to fight anymore…anyway, what about Xehanort's apprentice?" Monica was just about to reply, but caught herself. Granted, the guy's fighting style, especially the duel wielding, was almost identical to a certain silver-headed militia commander's…

"Um…nothing…never mind…," Inwardly, Monica kicked herself. As much as she hated keeping facts hidden from Sora and Kairi, there was no guarantee that the apprentice was Lloyd…while he had developed his own style of fighting; it was possible that the apprentice was just someone who happened to be taught to fight in a similar manner. Lloyd always was rather orthodox in his approach to just about everything…a lot of his moves and techniques were learned out of books…

"Anyway…," Monica said as she slung her legs over the side of the bed in preparation to get up and out of it. "I'm going to check on Mr. emo pants…I'll just leave you two lovebirds alone…," Monica smirked in satisfaction at the shade or red Sora and Kairi's faces turned. They were so easy to tease and embarrass. In one quick, practiced movement, Monica strapped her rilfe across her back and spun around, leaving both Sora and Kairi somewhat immobilized by embarrassment. Even though they had finally admitted their feelings, they were STILL embarrassed by people teasing them…something that Monica had no qualms about taking advantage of.

It took Monica less than a minute to spot Riku; there were only so many places in the town where an overly prideful emo boy could run off to brood. He was sitting on the roof overlooking the square that was normally used for training. The golden haired girl smirked to herself as she silently climbed up to the roof, something she was able to do with ease given the unique style or architecture that the entire town had. Besides, moving quickly and quietly was in her genes…it was a trait she inherited from her mother. Riku seemed too busy angrily staring at his hand to notice that his "stalker", as he had dubbed Monica despite her arguing over the true definition of the word, was silently approaching him from behind.

"…Gotcha'!" Monica whispered into his ear, causing Riku to stiffen up instantly as she plopped down next to him.

"…You didn't startle me…," Riku didn't even bother to look at Monica as he simply stared down at the training square below. "I knew you were there…,"

"Sure you did…," Monica replied with a smirk as she slowly swung her legs in a kicking motion as they dangled off the side of the building. "So…what exactly's getting you emo this time?" Riku turned to look at Monica with a piercing glare.

"I could have stopped Xehanort then and there if you didn't stop me!" Monica sighed and shook her head.

"Uh huh, I have no doubt that you could have beaten the guy who defeated both Roxas and Namine without your keyblade…I'm sure everything would have worked out if I just let you charge the bastard!" Riku glared at Monica for several more seconds before he grunted and sullenly rested his chin on his hands as he continued to stare downward. He knew that Monica was right, but his pride wouldn't allow him to admit it…especially to her! Monica studied Riku as he continued to silently pout about having to stay on the sidelines for once. Sighing, Monica got up, eliciting a surprised look from Riku. "Do me a favor and don't go anywhere…I'll be right back, okay?" Riku nodded suspiciously in reply. Monica grinned a bit as she spun around and jumped down from the side of the building, landing on one of the many pieces of metal that stuck out.

Again, she jumped down and began to run towards the barracks-like building that she lived in. It was a fairly simple place, though it had multiple medium sized rooms. Walking into hers, Monica looked about, taking in the familiar scent of her room. It was piled with numerous bits and pieces of all manner of futuristic weapons and what appeared to be medical items. Looking around quickly, Monica gathered up several grenades that would knock even Riku on his ass and have him begging for mercy, and then some medical items known as "stimulants" due to the fact that they accelerated the healing processes of the body by varying degrees depending on the quality of the stimulant. She put all of these in the numerous pockets that were on her pants, before she walked over to her bed, knelt down, and reached underneath it, pulling out a large cardboard box. Monica actually took a deep breath, as if she was hesitant to do what she was about to do. Still, she quietly opened the box and, almost reverently, lifted out a futuristic machine gun that would be able to be held with one hand.

It was much like her rifle, completely made of a shiny silver metal that didn't look like anything that came from this world, the main difference being that this machine gun had no bayonet installed on it. Whoever had used it hadn't at some point decided that having a melee capability was necessary. Either they were very fast, had someone blocking anyone from getting close enough to hit them, or the user of the machine gun had been somewhat cocky…perhaps the answer was all of the above? Regardless, Monica took another deep breath and then turned around; sprinting towards the building that Riku was sitting on. Instead of climbing up the building again, she simply walked into the training square below it, right in the middle of Riku's view.

"Hey, Riky, get down here! There's something I want to show you!" The silver haired keyblade master grunted irritably, but he nevertheless did as Monica asked.

"What do you want?" Monica smirked as Riku easily jumped straight down from the roof. She had to admit, it was kind of impressive….for an emo boy! He really could have used a bit of finesse!

"Simple, I want to snap you out of that emo mood of yours!" A hint of a scowl began to creep across Riku's face as he crossed his arms. It was bad enough that Monica constantly made cracks about his attitude and the slightly absurd length of his hair, but right now, he REALLY wasn't in the mood to put up with her.

"Now then, you're mad because you don't think you can fight without your keyblade and you want to protect Sora and Kairi, right?" Monica smirked as she saw Riku's eyes widen a bit in surprise even as he somehow managed to keep his face neutral despite a slight twitch in his facial muscles. He was good…but she was better! "Well, I'm going to teach you how to fight with a real weapon and not an over-sized key…if I'm right, then Sora and Kairi are a little…busy right now and probably aren't going to want to be interrupted, which means it's just the two of us." Monica smirked and elbowed Riku in a "you know what I mean?" manner. Judging from his face and the look in his eyes, Riku was trying to figure out whether she was elbowing him like that in regards to Sora and Kairi, or he and her being alone…probably Sora and Kairi.

"Right then, here you go, Riky," Monica offered him the machine gun, which he warily took. "Now, be very careful with that…it's a VERY powerful weapon...and it... belonged to my mother….,"

* * *

"So, there's absolutely nothing in there about something called "the Dormin"?" king Mickey asked in disbelief as he sat in front of Ansem's computer., the one on Radiant Garden.

"I'm afraid not," the voice belonging to the former security program known as "Tron" replied. "I'm guessing that neither he nor Xehanort knew anything about this "Dormin" thing, or they just didn't put it into this computer…there are a number of possibilities, but the fact is that I can't find any files on anything even remotely like what you described was in that crystal that Terra found." Mickey sighed and held his head in his hands as he sat in the chair that Leon had moved in front of the terminal out of convenience and consideration for the mouse-king. Mickey, for better or worse, was not the kind of person to sit idly by, and yet, there seemed to be nothing that he could do.

"Well, I do have some good news, your majesty…," Tron said in an attempt to be cheerful. Mickey looked up at the computer as the screen began to show a profile of some kind. "I know it's not much, but I did find something that may help with your investigation of the man who defeated master Yen Sid…," Almost immediately, Mickey practically fell on top of the keyboard in an attempt to look at what Tron had posted, ignoring the program's protests about his maltreatment of the computer.

_Hypothetical Historical profile entry #1, by Chief of Research and Lord of Radiant Garden, Ansem._

_At last, one of the archeology digs uncovered a number of what appear to be ancient historical records. When they were first laid before me, I wasn't sure what to think. At first I was ready to dismiss them as mere myth, until I noticed that several of the record's information regarding the placement of a number of ruins was accurate. I'm still unsure of what to think…the archaeologists found them in a hidden chamber in a ruin; it was as if someone was trying to hide the records for some reason. But why would someone want to hide the past? And if the makers of the record were indeed trying to hide these records, why did they not just destroy them? None of this makes since, but the most bizarre thing that I discovered upon close examination was that the record was the man who it focused on…_

_I've made this profile of him from what I could gather from the records, but it may not be entirely accurate…the records are at least a thousand years old!_

_Name: Caim "The One-Eyed Man" (no record of a last name)_

_Date of birth and death: unknown_

_Personality assessment: The records describe this "Caim" as some kind of horrible and unstoppable sociopath that was capable of single handedly slaughtering entire armies. For some reason, at least according to the records, he was trying to do something that was both terrible and deemed to be "unholy". Yet, at the same time, part of the record seemed scratched out and rewritten, though this part was ill-preserved and unreadable. In short, it seems safe to say that this "Caim" was a monster, a seemingly un-killable mass murderer of unprecedented proportions._

_Biography: Again, the records seemed blatantly focused on the atrocities this man committed. Still, I was able to discern one fact; supposedly, Caim was a prince of a country and was brought up as a normal child. The records say that his parents died when he was a small boy, but the part that tells HOW they died was scratched out due to erosion. I'm not sure what to think at this point, the records are made in such a way that they portray this "Caim" as a senselessly evil maniac, a common occurrence when one side wins a war. One hypothesis is that this "Caim" was a war hero for his country, but it lost the war and he was branded as a war criminal for his role in the war. Still, the fact that the records seem to focus solely on him and whatever it was he tried to do seem to contradict this._

_The records are clearly trying to say that the man was trying to do something terrible…but what? Regardless, I plan to just store this in the computer for now, I can gain no more information from these old records and the possibility of other worlds is more important at the moment…_

_Still, I don't recognize the style of writing on these records…if my current hypothesis about other worlds is correct, then could these be from another world? But then, if they truly are from another world, then what happened to it? Could whatever this "Caim" have been trying to do be connected with how these records seemed to float between the corridors of darkness (as of yet, the only known way to travel off world…though, there may not be any other worlds to travel to)?_

_End of Hypothetical History entry #1_

Mickey sat back in his chair, prompting Tron to mutter mutinously about the damage Micky had done to the keyboard by sitting on it. The title "The One Eyed Man", as the records seem to dub him, seemed fairly appropriate as the man seemed to keep his hair in such a way that it covered one of his eyes, presumably because it must have been blinded somehow. Still, this "Ansem report" did little to help. It only confirmed something Mickey already knew, that Caim was a bastard sociopath!

Suddenly, a loud siren began to sound throughout the entire castle. "Tron, what's going on?!" There was a click and a whir as the computer screen changed to show a scene that nearly made Mickey's heart stop. The security footage from what the mouse-king assumed to be a camera set up to help bolster the security showed a dark door, and out of it strode Caim, "the one eyed man", as the Ansem report had dubbed him. Caim, known as Xamic to a certain trio of nobodies, seemed to look around as the dark door behind him disappeared. He completely ignored the civilians that were now screaming and running away, to them anything and anyone that came through a dark door was trouble. Caim turned his back to the camer and preceded to walk down the streets, towards a certain old wizard's house-turned restoration committee base.

"He's in the same area that Leon and Yuffie were patrolling a few minutes ago, scanning him now…," before Caim could walk out of the camera's view, a small icon locked onto him to indicate that Tron was analyzing him for any kind of weakness.

"Tron, what's the scanner say about his power level?"

"IT'S OVER NINE THOUSAND!!" Mickey felt his eyes widen as he nearly fell out of his chair. While he wasn't familiar with how Tron's scanner worked, or what his power level was on it, but it didn't take a genius to figure out that Caim's level of strength must have been insane. Without a word, the mouse summoned his keyblade and jumped out of the chair, literally hitting the ground running.

"Wait!" Tron called out in vain, Mickey was already out of earshot to be stopped. "Ugh, users…so illogical!" the computer program complained to himself as rescanned Caim from a different camera to see if he had had a malfunction or something.

"…His power level really is over nine thousand…but how's that possible…he can't be a normal human…"

* * *

Xehanort sighed a bit to himself as he heard the sounds of his apprentice playing around in the former Organization thirteen member, known as Lexaeus's, room. While the spell that ensured that the boy would obey him without question was necessary, there were times like these that the heartless found himself wishing he could just remove it, regardless of how violent the apprentice would become. Granted, the boy hadn't exactly been in the best condition when he found him literally stumbling around the realm of darkness. It was strange how the heartless hadn't tried to attack him, there were only so many possible explanations for that. Either he had only been there for a very short time, his heart was aligned to darkness already, or because he had no heart to lose…

A loud crash suddenly rang out from "The Silent Hero's" room, causing Xehanort to loudly groan to himself in frustration. While it would only take a few minutes for his wounds to heal, thanks to the advantage of being right next to the realm of darkness, his apprentice was making it seem like hours. Walking into the room, the old heartless saw that, in the course of whatever it was the apprentice had been doing, the nobody's room had been virtually torn apart by various forms of magic…wait, magic?! Xehanort hadn't taught the boy any kind of magic, he didn't seem intelligent enough to learn it!

He quickly spotted the dark soldier lying amongst a heaped pile of what was once Lexaeus's possessions, including a chair that the apprentice had apparently been try to spin around in, or something like that, thus explaining how the crash occurred. The apprentice, however, held a book in his hands that he seemed to be trying to read. "Wait, did you do this?!" The apprentice's head jerked up as he dropped he book and literally jumped to attention at Xehanort's presence, apparently he had been t wrapped up in whatever it was he was doing to notice his master's presence. Xehanort couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at this; his apprentice was acting almost completely like a heartless, that is, child-like and driven almost solely by emotion and instinct.

"What book were you reading?" he asked with mild suspicion as he motioned to the book that his apprentice still held in his hand. Despite himself, Xehanort couldn't help but feel a measure of concern for his apprentice…inwardly, he prayed that the book the apprentice had found in a grown man's private room wasn't a "man's magazine", or something like one…

His apprentice seemed hesitant for a moment, and instead of speaking, he simply handed the book to Xehanort. Curious, the heartless began to glance through it, a wicked smile began to creep across his face as he did so. The book was more or less a summary of all of Lexaeus's earth manipulating techniques. "I don't suppose you found some other books like this one and read them, did you?" The apprentice's head nodded up and down eagerly as he spun around and dug through the pile of junk he had accidently made. "No, don't worry about…this one alone will be just fine…," As Xehanort read through just how to manipulate the earth itself, he smirked. Using earth spells was impractical for the most part, even if they were amongst the most powerful, since they took almost unholy amounts of magical energy to use…energy which Xehanort had in abundance thanks to the power his keyblade had given him.

That combined with the fact that the apprentice had apparently learned to cast thunder and lightning magic (judging from the kind damage inflicted onto the room) would make it ridiculously easy to defeat anyone who tried to stop him from turning Kingdom Heart (or, more accurately, the Kingdom Hearts Organization thirteen made) to darkness…the three keyblade masters were helpless without their keyblades, and the artificial ones and their wielders, while formidable, simply weren't in Sora, Riku, and Kairi's league…

* * *

Ven took a deep breath underneath his helmet, for he was fully clad in his suit of chaser armor, as he walked towards the agreed spot where he, Aqua, and Terra would rendezvous after they finished scouting the area of the keyblade graveyard that they were in for any sign of Xehanort or his apprentice. As he gripped the Jester's Forte, Ven couldn't help but mentally berate himself for the way he had been acting ever since Nihlus's death. The sadness over losing one of your friends since as far back as you can remember was understandable to say the least, but the Roxas-look-alike still felt a wave of shame for his depression. He had always seen it as his job and duty to keep Aqua and Nihlus from sinking into the pits whenever something terrible happened…and he had failed miserably. Aqua was clearly worse off than even him, and he hadn't done a thing about it. Out of everyone, he was the one person who could have comforted in, and he had been too busy being "emo" to actually do anything.

Shaking his head as he gripped his keyblade, Ven mentally swore that he would find a way to make up for his failure…provided that he and Aqua survived this battle!

It was difficult to tell where you were in the keyblade graveyard, but there was one landmark that the trio had discovered that made it possible for them to split up…Sora, Kairi, and Riku's "dead" keyblades. As Ven approached the spot, he could see that Terra had already finished his patrol, and Aqua was approaching the spot as well.

"Ven, did you see any traces of him?" Terra asked as he turned to face the Roxas look-a-like.

"No…what about you and Aqua?" The two chasers shook their heads in reply. "Brilliant…," Ven sighed as he looked around, while the armor was great for combat, it could get very hot on the inside, and if your underwear somehow got stuck up your butt due to the tightness of the armor, then you were screwed! "So…can we use these keyblades?" Ven asked, motioning to Sora, Kairi, and Riku's.

Terra sadly shook his head in reply as Aqua looked up in curiosity. "No, you see-," he reached down and took up the Kingdom Key in his free hand while Aqua and Ven did the same with Kairi's keyblade and The Way to Dawn respectively. "Their keblades were destroyed, you and Aqua were only able to get yours because their wielders were killed, but the keyblades themselves were unharmed." Terra jammed Sora's keyblade back into the ground with a hint of frustration. "Besides, the chances of you getting chosen by another keyblade are extremely remote…artificial keyblades only choose someone else if their hearts are similar to whatever bit of their heart their previous wielder used to make them…,"

"Oh…," was all Ven said as he and Aqua put Kairi and Riku's keyblades back into place somewhat awkwardly. Suddenly Aqua's head jerked sideways as she seemed to spot something.

"He's here…," Terra and Ven looked in the same direction as their blue-haired comrade and saw an all too familiar silhouette moving about in a small dust storm. The dust storm seemed to fade away only a few seconds later as the three chasers just stood there, capes flapping in the wind as Xehanort walked toward them. Even the distance between him and Ven couldn't conceal the fact that he had a confidant smirk on his face. The apprentice suddenly materialized right next to his master in the same way he had before, through a "recall" spell that made it look as if Xehanort had created a double of himself for a brief instant.

Ven felt all the anger he had at Xehanort suddenly rise to the surface all at once. This guy had nearly killed Roxas and Namine AND ruined Nihlus's memorial service just so that he could gloat about how he was going to conquer the world or whatever it was the bastard wanted to do. And that wasn't all, Xehanort had also enslaved someone who was clearly innocent, the way the apprentice acted when he wasn't being ordered to kill was blatant proof of that! Ven tightly gripped his keyblade and was about to run forward to literally beat Xehanort to death when he was suddenly pulled back by Terra. Shocked Ven jerked his head sideways to get an explanation out of Terra, only to have the man run right by him, and towards Xehanort with his keyblade raised. Ven and Aqua exchanged looks from underneath their helmets as they ran to catch up with Terra. This wasn't like him, just blindly charging an enemy, it was the kind of thing that Nihlus might have done on a bad day, but Terra? The chaser was running far faster than both Aqua and Ven had thought he was capable of running, especially in the heavy armor he wore.

Xehanort and his apprentice just stopped where they were, and the old heartless simply raised his hand into the air, causing a huge rock cliff to emerge from underneath both him and his apprentice, lifting them out of harm's way and sending Terra flying back onto the ground when he was struck by the rising cliff.

More cliffs began to emerge behind Terra, causing both Aqua and Ven mild difficulty in reaching him. The brunette chaser wasn't even given time to get back on his feet as Xehanort's apprentice jumped off the still rising cliff, flinging large lightening spell down upon Terra as he fell. Instantly the chaser jerked up as his armor was lightly charged by the spell as bits and pieces of it literally peeled off. Still, the chaser seemed almost totally unfazed as he looked straight up at Xehanort, ignoring Aqua and Ven as they ran past him to subdue the apprentice. Without a word, Terra began to try to scale the cliff and get at Xehanort, he was even more hell-bent than Ven was…

Out of the corner of his eye, Ven could see what appeared to be, for lack of better words, a blade storm made of keyblades that were held together in a swarm by what seemed to be an immense wind spell conjured up by Xehanort. It was a blatant copy of what Nihlus had done right before he died, only he used heartless. Still, Ven had not time to reflect on this as he lunged for the apprentice. The dark soldier managed to dodge Ven's strike, and jumped back in order to regain the momentum that he had lost thanks to Ven's unexpected attack. Ven lunged forward once again, only to jump sideways at the last minute. The apprentice stood there, confused for a brief second before he narrowly managed to avoid being frozen by a blizzaga spell that Aqua launched from her keyblade.

The apprentice and Ven clashed once more as Aqua rushed forward to join them, only to stop and look over her shoulder. "Ven, look out!" The tornado of keyblades swept down to their level, allowing the apprentice to hop on top of it and ride it. Ven and Aqua ran for their lives as the tide had seemingly instantly turned. The apprentice rained his own blizzaga spells down upon the two before directing his keyblade mount downward and then hopping off of it as Ven was nearly swept up into the blades.

Still, Ven just barely managed to jump over the blade storm, landing on his side before he instantly recovered and jumped over another one of the apprentice's blizzaga spells, only to be sent flying backwards into the air by a slash from his keyblade.

Before the apprentice could do anything else, a huge arc of lightening nearly engulfed him, he was only able to escape by back flipping back onto the swarm of keyblades, but even then the lightening from a certain blue-haired mage's keyblade was literally right on his heels for a brief second before it receded.

Aqua scowled to herself when she saw that Xehanort's apprentice had managed to avoid her attack. He was undoubtedly a great fighter, but the apprentice couldn't defeat both her and Ven, even tying with them might cause him to use the power of darkness too much and then lose his heart. Aqua saw Ven recovering from his short brawl with the apprentice out of the corner of her eye as she focused all of her attention on the keyblade swarm, a wave of confusion and fear hitting her when she noticed that it seemed to be pursuing Terra now and that the apprentice no longer seemed to be on it…

Suddenly, the swarm lashed out at Terra, knocking him from the cliff he was traversing to reach Xehanort. Aqua watched in horror as the chaser struggled to stop his fall by quickly stabbing his keyblade into the side of the cliff. The rock came loose as Terra was battered and beaten from his fall; it broke off from the cliff, causing Terra to fall with it. Before Aqua could do anything to help, she felt a rumbling in the ground beneath her feet. She looked down in time to see the swarm of keyblades literally erupting from the ground beneath her, sweeping her up into the air. Luckily, she had been standing off to the side of the swarm rather in the middle of it, so only her helmet was shattered and knocked off by the blades as they flew upward, leaving her to fall to the ground from the great height they had dragged her to.

Aqua hit the ground with an audible groan; a rather large crater had formed from her landing. "Aqua!" The voice belonged to Ven, and he sounded far more concerned than any other time that Aqua could remember. She felt him sprint right next to her and then kneel down to make sure she was alright. Muttering darkly about Ven's lack of faith in her abilities, the blue-haired chaser forced herself up with her keyblade before she pointed it at Terra, who had been caught by the swarm of keyblades. "Reflega!"

A blue light shot from the tip of her keyblade, hitting Terra just on his chest and forming a large, honeycombed globe of light around him. The keyblades that were slashing and imprisoning the chaser were sent flying, but Aqua's shield was assaulted by the rest of the keyblade wave. The mage would have collapsed to her hands and knees if she wasn't already on them; the drain on her magic energy was staggering! "Ven…go!" Aqua rasped out as her eyes widened at the size of the resulting explosion when she couldn't maintain her spell any longer. Ven reluctantly looked back and forth between Aqua and Terra as he fell onto the cliff that Xehanort himself stood on, the chaser's armor was barely holding together and his cape was in shreds. He gave Aqua a quick pat on the shoulder before he dashed off towards the cliff, scaling it with far more grace and ease than Terra had. Meanwhile, Aqua stared after him with a confused expression on her face, since when did Ven act so concerned about her?

The Roxas look-alike reached the top of the cliff in time to see Terra gets knocked back by a blizzaga spell from Xehanort, he could feel fear rising up in his chest. Somehow, the old man had gotten more powerful…and he was pretty tough to begin with! Ven knew that he wouldn't be able to win…but Terra's left arm had just been frozen and he wasn't about to leave Terra to die. Silently thanking God for making Xehanort arrogant, Ven jumped toward the heartless, keyblade at the ready, as he taunted Terra by switching his keyblade from his right hand to his left, just to show that he didn't even need to fight at full strength to beat the chaser.

Ven flew through the air with a speed that surprised even him. In fact, he found himself wishing that Yuffie was there to watch just so that he could make a crack about an ancestor of his being a blonde ninja…of course, he knew that she wouldn't believe it! A blonde ninja? That was just stupid!

Ven swung his keyblade downward…and hit thin air. "What the-?!" He was suddenly jerked back as Xehanort literally vanished from his sight when he tried to strike the heartless, a strong hand gripped the back of his head, Ven almost totally immobile.

"Ven!" Terra's voice was panicked as he tried to struggle to his feet despite his numerous wounds and frozen arm. Xehanort had a look of pure hatred in his eyes as he began to squeeze on Ven's helmet, elicitng a yelp of pain from the chaser as his struggling became even more violent. 'My armor's getting slowly torn off by an old man in a teasing manner…never in the history of history has anything like this not ended badly!'

"I'm coming!" Terra was thrown off the cliff by the keyblade storm as the apprentice jumped from it and landed next to his master, who held the still-struggling Ven. Terra could do nothing as the countless keyblades cut through his already heavily damaged armor…

Aqua finally heaved herself to her feet as she could feel the flow of magic through once again. Physically, she was still weakened by being hit in the head by a swarm of keyblades ad the fall that happened shortly after. Taking deep breathes, Aqua turned her head towards the cliff to see how Ven and Terra were doing…the sight she saw made her blood run cold. Xehanort held Ven by the back of his head, and he was standing just off the edge of the cliff, as if he was planning to throw him off. Ven's struggling had turned desperate, in his thrashings part of his helmet fell off, exposing one of his blue now-blue eyes as he looked down at Aqua, her reflection in his eyes.

Ven suddenly stiffened as dark energy seemed to coarse through his body, causing him to spasm violently just before Xehanort finished his spell. Ven was frozen solid and then released to fall down the side of the immense cliff…

"VEN!" Aqua, on an adrenaline rush, summoned all of her strength and charged forward as Ven fell, his helmet being shattered against the rocks that stuck out form the cliff, followed by his keyblade…

Ven was literally inches away from the ground when Aqua managed to catch him in her arms, the act of doing so sent her flying backwards. At first everything around Aqua was a blur as she moved Ven into a slightly more comfortable position (for her anyway) and looked down. His face was frozen in silent horror, but he was alive. Ven's eyes moved slightly as they tried to focus on Aqua. "Ven, hang on I'll-," Aqua was interrupted when the entire area suddenly seemed to get brighter.

Aqua had been too busy fighting to notice that dark clouds had covered the sun of this world, if you could call the keyblade graveyard a world, but now a giant blue colored heart was illuminating the entire area as Aqua stared up at it. While it was a pale blue instead of a glorious gold, there was no mistaking Kingdom Hearts…or Xehanort's apprentice as he jumped down the cliff toward Aqua and Ven…

"Dammit…," Aqua muttered to herself as she dragged Ven behind her to protect him and tried to stand up. A small fire ball began to form on her keyblade as she struggled to both remain standing and form the fireball. Xehanort's apprentice slowly walked towards both her and Ven, his keyblade at the ready. Aqua took several deep breaths and shot the fireball at the apprentice, only to have her shot deflected by his keyblade. With no other option left, Aqua charged toward him with her keyblade raised over her head.

The apprentice easily parried her overhead strike with a counter that had been too complicated and "boring" for her to learn during her sparing sessions. Aqua's keyblade was nearly torn out of her grip and before she could react, the apprentice's left hand gripped the front of her face.

Dark energy charged into his hand and Aqua was literally sent flying through the air from the point-blank dark aura attack. Everything seemed to move in slow motion as Aqua lay on the ground, pain rippling through her entire body. The apprentice ignored her, instead slowly approaching Ven and raising his keyblade over his head to slam it down on the frozen boy and finish him off. "NO!" Aqua yelled as she jerked forward and shot one last firaga spell at the apprentice before she collapsed back to the ground, panting from exhaustion.

Her spell struck the apprentice straight in the head, shattering his helmet and causing him to grip his head in apparent agony. Despite his apparent pain, Xehanort's apprentice remained as silent as ever as he slowly lowered his hands, revealing that his helmet was already halfway reformed. Aqua's eyes nearly fell out of her sockets as the face of Xehanort's apprentice was finally revealed. "N-nihlus?!"

Standing in front of Aqua was none other than Nihlus himself…even as the helmet once again regenerated to cover his face, there was no mistaking the blank expression on his face…it was as if he didn't even know who Aqua was…

* * *

_'You can't win without me; Terra…let me lend you my power!'_

"No!" Terra shook his head viciously from side to side as he rested on his hands and knees, unable to even move due to the injuries that he had suffered. The only good thing about be tortured by the keyblade swarm was that it shattered the ice that had been freezing his left arm in place.

_'Xehanort will turn kingdom Heartsss to darkness, kill you, and then unleash whatever is spawned by Kingdom Hearts upon the worlds…everyone will die or become one with the darkness because of your arrogance!'_ Terra bared his teeth but said nothing. Sulhin was right, to a certain extent, but Terra wasn't about to let this…parasite of darkness get its claws into him! _'…Ah…he just sent hisss apprentice to kill both Aqua and Ven…now how do you think that'sss going to turn out? There will be blood, oh yesss…and you will only have yourself to blame…'_

Sulhin's insanity was beginning to show itself once more as Terra's resolve began to waver._ 'I'll die if you die…a fascinating idea, isn't it? Light and dark dying together because one was too uppity and uncompromising to accept the other! Hahahah!'_ Terra would have growled at Sulhin's now-twisted sense of humor, but he just didn't have the energy to do so.

"…Fine…lend me your power…I'm only using it for my friends!" Sulhin was deathly quiet for several seconds, causing Terra to briefly wonder if the being of darkness was backing out of the agreement.

_'That's exactly what Nihlus said when we were first joined with him…of course, a lot of other people started that way, but they were weak and corrupt, unlike him…let's find out what kind of person you are…,'_ As he reluctantly released Sulhin from being imprisoned in agony in his keyblade, Terra could feel him seeping into both his heart and mind. '_Oh my…so many sssecrets…now isn't THISSS sssomething that your "friendsss" would be interested to know? Ah, but who caresss about such thingsss? You can use my power…go ahead, let your emotionsss fill you once more…go crazy…but after your though, Hahahahah!'_

Sulhin's laughter echoed in Terra's mind as he did what the being of darkness told him to. All his anger at Xehanort came rushing to the surface, along with his desire to protect both Aqua and Ven…to protect everyone…

Terra felt the darkness filling him as he tore off his helmet and looked towards Kingdom Hearts as his eyes turned from blue to an all too familiar gold. Terra's keyblade slowly turned black and began to sprout metallic red thorns and his armor too began to resemble Nihlus's, it was black, spiky, and had the heartless emblem on its chest. The chaser could feel himself being filled with power…and it felt good.

A smile began to creep across Terra's face as he fought down the urge to laugh. Was this how Nihlus felt whenever he went berserk? He felt an overwhelming rage at Xehanort, and yet it was difficult to stop himself from laughing with glee that the thought of what he could do know to the bastard heartless…

_'I ssshall rip him, tear him, and devour him…he will be no more…,'_

A pair of black, draconic wings suddenly erupted from Terra's back of their own accord; apparently this was Sulhin's way of helping…

Without a second thought, Terra soared into the air towards Xehanort, lusting for the closest thing the heartless had for blood.

_'Make the maggot sssuffer, Tera, for me…make him sssuffer…once he isss dead, I own you…,'_

* * *

Ok, one heck of a chapter, huh? Just so you know, this is the last time I ever even partially resurrect a character after they die since you guys partially saw what I had in mind coming. I wasn't lying when I said Nihlus died…it just depends on your definition of death! Oh, and I hope you like the reference humor I put to lighten things up a bit…several things are going to get explained in the next chapter (like why does Mickey have a different keyblade…I'll give you a hint, his idea of confronting Caim/Xamic wasn't a very good one)

Anyway, please review, I've been working on this one all day!


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